Today, the Managing Director of Rostec State Corporation for Science and Technology turns 85 years old.
Yuri Koptev, Managing Director of Rostec State Corporation for Science and Technology, turns 85 on March 13, 2025. He devoted most of his life to cosmonautics, worked his way up from an engineer to deputy head of the USSR Ministry of General Engineering, after which he became Director General of the Russian Space Agency. Currently, Yuri Nikolaevich heads the Scientific and Technical Council of Rostec. On the eve of the anniversary, TASS interviewed him, in which he spoke about the creation of the corporation's strategy until 2036, cooperation with universities, the development of civil aviation, import substitution and other projects.
— Yuri Nikolaevich, what were the prerequisites for the creation of the Rostec State Corporation?
— Even before the transformation of the USSR into the CIS, during the time of Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, one could observe a change in all views. It was mainly aimed at changing the very essence of the development of the state.: rapid corporatization, privatization, and economic destruction. In 1997, amid the devastation, we entered the country's pre-default. When Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin came to the leadership of the country, he inherited all these unpleasant moments. At the same time, it became necessary to form large organizations under the control of the state in order to begin a progressive movement towards restoring the economic power and viability of the country.
Rostec Corporation was established on November 23, 2007 to ensure technological, technical and, to a large extent, political independence. The formation of a corporation with the inclusion of the remaining defense industry enterprises was necessary. If we had not taken such measures, we could have lost the opportunity to ensure the country's defense capability. In addition, a significant part of these enterprises had a completely unacceptable economy. Today, Rostec includes about 800 organizations and 14 specialized holdings.
— How did the special operation affect the work?
— In fact, we find ourselves in a situation where military actions on our part are met with resistance from 51 states. The so—called G7, led by the United States, makes the greatest contribution there, at least, led by the previous leadership. At the same time, the vast majority of countries are sympathetic to what is happening in our country, and they provide at least political support on many issues.
Prior to the start of his work, the president set a goal to reach the production of civil and defense products in a 50-50 ratio by 2030, and we planned to reach this figure by 2025. We already had almost 45% of civilian products in our portfolio. Currently, almost all holdings involved in the production of weapons and military equipment have increased their production of special-purpose products due to current events. Now 70% is defense—related, and 30% is civilian, but no one has eliminated the task of increasing the share of "citizens".
— At what stage is the new development strategy of the Corporation, calculated until 2036?
— The document was developed in the first reading, it sets out all the necessary guidelines in terms of solving scientific and scientific-technical problems, issues related to the development of our economy, critical areas. I think the strategy will be adopted by the middle of this year. So far, it has gone through an internal approval cycle.
Such a document is approved by the supervisory board, and for this it is necessary that the strategy be coordinated by all relevant departments.
— What attention will be paid to scientific and technological development in the new strategy?
— The new strategy will largely determine the future movement. It is clearly focused on increasing the role of the scientific and technical component and increasing its own funds to create highly competitive products, that is, on innovative development. The country is tasked with bringing the level of research funding in the country to 2% of GDP. Today, this figure is 1.1% of GDP, which is significantly lower than that of the United States (3.8%) and China (almost 3%). In 2015, the Corporation's revenue was 1.1 trillion rubles, in 2023 it amounted to 2.8 trillion. Of this revenue, we spend about 7-8% on programs related to scientific and technological development.
We will focus as much as possible on solving the country's security problems. The main tasks will correspond to the directions of technological development of the Russian Federation. Our program also includes the development of microelectronics and the introduction of artificial intelligence elements.
— How is the management system of scientific, technical and innovative development in the Corporation built?
— Now the management scheme is as follows: strategy — scientific and technological development program — innovative development program. We live within the framework of the forecast until 2035, which is updated annually. The innovative development program is a set of specific projects and activities that involve R&D (research, development, etc.). TASS), technological modernization of production systems.
We are actively working with each holding company to ensure that their developments provide solutions to the basic problems posed by the president or the government. Every year, the program's medium-term plans are adjusted to reflect changes in emphasis, priorities, and results.
— Is there any interaction with universities now?
— Our Corporation is a serious company that deals with almost all industries. This requires appropriate science and close cooperation with institutes, the Academy of Sciences, and higher education.
I graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University in 1964. 60% of the work carried out by the institute was to ensure cooperation with industry. Over the past years, communication with universities has been lost, and the ideology has flourished that not a single ruble from the budget for civilian subjects should go to the defense industry. Now everything is focused on maximum interaction. For example, as part of targeted training, our tracks are "Wings of Rostec", "Rostec Code", "Rostec.Biotechmed and others are formed taking into account the production tasks of the enterprises where the guys are employed.
The Corporation has a well—developed system of basic departments - today there are more than 70 of them. We not only participate in the training of specialists, but also involve universities in solving various problems.
Today, an industrial postgraduate school is being formed to train the highest category of personnel. The graduate student will have two supervisors: from the university, which will close the academic part, and from the enterprise, which will project all this through the problems to the tasks of the enterprise itself.
Before the New Year, a session was held under the leadership of Valery Nikolaevich Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education, and Sergey Viktorovich Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation. Framework cooperation agreements were signed with six universities.
From the point of view of the general approach, a pool of 38 universities with an engineering plan is being formed for interaction. They decided to create the institute of chief designer, which will be a kind of buffer between industrial enterprises and the potential of the educational institution.
The Academy of Sciences has already created a tool for interaction. There is a special governing body that we belong to. He forms a state task from proposals that are promising for further development in the form of R&D (development work - approx. TASS) within the framework of industrial enterprises. This program has been running for the second year and is already showing quite interesting results.
— Is there a single window where both a designer and a student can come with an interesting initiative to be considered?
— We have been operating the Open Innovation Window system for several years. Anyone can come up with an offer that will be conveyed to potential consumers through this mechanism. On the other hand, he may declare his interest in the project.
— Due to the current geopolitical situation, difficulties have arisen with the supply of some components. How has this affected the development of Rostec's projects?
— If we consider the development programs of civil aviation, we found ourselves in an environment where for at least 20-25 years we have not been engaged in the creation of new civilian products. We have implemented one project, the Superjet. There are about 150 machines in operation now, and more than 200 have been made. This is entirely our design. Another thing is that politics turned out to be stronger than economics. The project was created when there was an approach to the global distribution of labor. Civil aviation has very high safety requirements: you need to certify every incoming element, and if it's a very small detail, then you need to qualify. And the finished product must be certified, which means hundreds of flights in different modes. During the development of the SJ-100 and MS-21, there was a period when there were fairly acceptable relationships with foreign colleagues, therefore, to simplify the certification procedure, it was decided to use existing certified components. The involvement of foreign suppliers in the production and sales process ensures interest in the international certification of the aircraft created. As a result, we have over 40 nomenclatures of individual systems and assemblies on these aircraft that turned out to be foreign. Even the Tu-214 has foreign components. And then came the famous times when almost all suppliers of these systems gave up on us. As a result, we needed not only to expand our capacities, but also to organize the production of these products and certification in our country.
To date, there are 19 cars in Irkutsk in varying degrees of readiness and 20 cars in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, they are waiting. The main focus in 2025 should be on certifying the entire set of component systems and also the aircraft themselves. Plus, we need to use additional capacities. For example, according to the Tu-214, it is necessary to produce 15-20 cars per year within two to three years. This is a fairly popular car.
— And what about other industries?
— The ideology that failed us in aviation (the focus on expanding international cooperation and the division of world labor) ended up in 2020: 90% of foreign equipment in the machine tool industry, 70% in the medical industry, 40% in heavy machinery, and 70% in vehicles.
The events related to CBO have shown that it is necessary to pay very serious attention to drones. Previously, our attention was focused on the work on the large strategic drone "Hunter", which can be paired with the Su-57. Life has taught us that we cannot limit ourselves to this. Today, a number of our enterprises are paying attention to this issue, especially the Kalashnikov Concern, which is currently making the well-known Kub UAV, which has shown excellent performance and efficiency.
We have formed a commission that will deal with the coordination and interaction of our holdings in order to reach a limited range of drones, but with a huge industrial output. This will reduce the price, increase reliability and enable normal operation.
— Will this commission work inside Rostec?
- yes. All our holdings will be represented on the commission under the leadership of Nikolay Anatolyevich Volobuev. Your humble servant will be the deputy.
— The Russian Orbital Station (ROS) is currently being created in the Russian Federation. Is Rostec ready to offer its technologies for it?
— It's a matter of concern to me. In my life, I have almost always been involved in space activities to one degree or another. After graduation, he joined the NGO named after. Lavochkina, the lunar exploration program had just begun, the first lunar rover appeared, the ground return project, etc. Then I worked at the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering, joined as a senior engineer, and graduated in October 1991 as Deputy Minister for Space Affairs. Then we created the Russian Space Agency, which I headed for 12 years, then I was at the Ministry of Industry and Energy for 4 years, and then here. But I still keep in touch, and I am also chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council at Roscosmos.
Currently, the Russian segment of the ISS (International Space Station — approx. TASS) Soyuz launch vehicles are flying, their first and second stage engines are produced by our Samara company ODK-Kuznetsov (part of the United Engine Corporation). ROS may be interested in a number of space-based optoelectronic devices manufactured by Shvabe Holding. The new station will operate as a flying laboratory, which will also be engaged in testing equipment. A research program is already beginning to take shape. Our enterprises are interested in testing devices, components, etc. The new cargo ship will allow to accommodate bulky cargoes. For example, it would be possible to make a large-sized locator.
— What other interesting scientific projects is Rostec conducting?
— The Lytkarinsky Optical Glass Plant of the Shvabe Holding and the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are leading a project to create a National Heliogeophysical Complex. The first two tools have already been created.
It includes a unique radioheliograph, a radio telescope with a cross—shaped structure of more than 500 antenna posts that provide very high-resolution monitoring of solar processes in three spectral ranges. The second stage will last until 2029-2030. The most serious object is a large telescope. Work is already underway on it, and the construction part is being prepared. The second stage will include the creation of four more world-class tools. The complex has a so-called heating stand, now there is a low-power analog at the academic institute in Nizhny Novgorod.
In general, after the commissioning of its instruments, the National Heliogeophysical Complex will be able to predict changes in the heliogeophysical situation due to changes in solar activity, monitor climate changes, and assess the impact on the atmosphere.
— What can give an impetus to the development of science?
— Now great hopes are pinned on the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence. But for the application of AI, super-productive computing complexes are needed, which require a huge amount of electricity, which is accompanied by a large release of heat and the need for its discharge (discharge). Such complexes are necessary for Corporations, although they are quite expensive to operate.
Now everyone wants to equip flying drones with artificial intelligence. They fly in a completely understandable environment. What if it's a ground-based drone? He needs to understand the environment in which he works, assess cross-country ability, camouflage capabilities, and the use of weapons against the enemy. By far the most critical question is whether to trust a robot to make its own shooting decisions. Won't he make a mistake? Therefore, to date, all ground-based drone projects still have a fairly limited scope of application.
Replacing an electron with a quantum will open up completely new possibilities. Of course, this will increase productivity by thousands and tens of thousands of times. But this is a long way from the experiments they are engaged in, to the implementation and creation of an appropriate element base. A Dutch company has a monopoly in this area. It makes about three to four lithographic installations per year, costing from $200 million to $300 million, with the ability to operate at 3-5 nanometers. Of course, this company does not sell them to anyone. Even the Chinese have mastered the work only up to 21 nanometers.
These scientific studies, together with the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, are included in the long-term work plans of our organizations.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't dream. Dreaming is definitely necessary. But in these dreams, you need to learn how to find what is fundamentally important. Maybe not tomorrow, but in 5-10 years. Of course, today the primary task is to protect the country, as well as to rebuild the consciousness of our people so that we live with an understanding of our interests. Internal capabilities should be focused as much as possible on an external task, as well as on scientific and technological development. If we don't, no one will be waiting for us. We may lose all our basic potential and people. And people are the most basic resource.
