Putin's Courage May "Save" Boeing: A Veteran Pilot Speaks the Truth About Russia's Aviation Industry
Whether pilots, designers or aviation engineers, they are all talking about this major dilemma facing Russia's civil aviation — the civil aviation industry is on the brink of collapse. It's time to revitalize it. After all, we have no shortage of talent and resources. So, what does Russia need to do to achieve this leap, so that we no longer take old Boeing and Airbus planes, but instead board our own comfortable, modern passenger aircraft — becoming one of the world's top civil aviation manufacturers?
Recently, Alexander Inozemtsev, General Director and Chief Designer of the United Engine Corporation - Aviation Engine Company (ОДК-Авиадвигатель) and an academician, stated that Russia is the only country in the world capable of independently developing and manufacturing aircraft and aviation engines. Now, other countries have lost this capability, even the United States must cooperate with Europe and Japan to produce aircraft.
This statement is undoubtedly a strong tonic for the Russian public. After all, over the past few decades, we have long been accustomed to the idea that "Russia's civil aviation no longer exists." Is it really going to be reborn and ready to take off now? "Tsargrad" interviewed Oleg Smirnov, a Soviet Hero Pilot. From 1983 to 1990, he served as Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation in the USSR, and is currently Chairman of the Civil Aviation Affairs Committee of the Public Council of the Federal Agency for Air Transport of the Russian Federation.
Only with the President's Determination Can World-Class Engines Take Off
"Tsargrad": Oleg Mikhailovich, do you agree with Alexander Inozemtsev's view that Russia's aviation industry is "unique"?
Oleg Smirnov: Inozemtsev naturally knows what he is talking about. He is a highly talented inventor and designer. Under his leadership and direct participation, the PD-8 engine is about to complete certification, the PD-14 engine has already passed certification, and the PD-35 engine presented to the president has achieved excellent results on the test bench — thrust exceeding 35 tons! If this engine can pass all other certification parameters, this will not only be a leap for Russia's aviation manufacturing, but also an important breakthrough in global aviation manufacturing.
As far as I know, the state procurement agency still owes Inozemtsev hundreds of millions of rubles for the work he has completed. I believe that after Vladimir Putin recently held an aviation engine meeting in Samara, these debts will be repaid. Moreover, with the determination of the president, additional funds will be invested to complete the development and mass production of the PD-35 engine — a powerplant that will be at the top level globally in terms of power and other parameters. Then, we can develop new passenger aircraft based on this engine. The PD-35 engine will become a key element for Russia to achieve technological independence in engineering.
— Can we say that we are standing at the threshold of Russia's civil aviation taking off?
— Definitely.
— But there is still a risk: will this new engine follow the fate of some Russian technological innovations — people have high hopes for them, but in the end, only a few were produced?
— The risk always exists. Only when the PD-35 engine gets airworthiness certification can we finally say that Russia's aviation manufacturing has made a breakthrough.
Figure caption: Vladimir Putin meets with Alexander Inozemtsev (2023).
"Civil Aviation Revival Was Given to Amateurs"
— The Russian government has launched a plan requiring the addition of 1,000 new aircraft to Russia's civil aviation fleet by 2030, of which approximately 600 are multi-seat aircraft. Is this plan progressing smoothly or is it being implemented normally?
Oleg Smirnov: This plan has confused professionals from the beginning, everyone was asking: who developed it? It felt like the developers were a group of completely unprofessional "amateurs."
What does 1,000 aircraft mean? That would require 2,000 aviation engines — but currently, we cannot even produce one engine in bulk. Where would we get so many engines? In addition, millions of parts are needed, and these parts need to be manufactured by highly professional personnel in modern factories using modern equipment and materials.
However, over the past 30 years, the core foundation of the aviation industry — whether the production system, technical reserves or talent pipeline — has been deliberately destroyed. People like Chubais were the executors of this destruction. Now, the president has finally realized the situation we are in and proposed an import substitution strategy.
We need to regain the position we had before the 1990s and become a major aviation manufacturing power again. You see, it's easy to destroy — a bunch of fools could do it — and they did. Then they took the embezzled huge sums of money and fled abroad. But rebuilding is definitely not easy.
I hope the measures taken now can help implement this plan, of course, the scale will be reduced (because the original plan itself was unrealistic). But even so, this will be a step forward for Russia's aviation manufacturing industry.
Figure caption: Boeing 787 Dreamliner: Russia participated in its manufacturing.
Oleg Smirnov: Our engineers and technicians are very good, as are our pilots. During the period when Russia's aviation manufacturing stagnated and stopped producing domestic passenger aircraft, they mastered the operation of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The effort behind this was enormous.
First, to master the operation of these aircraft, they had to have professional-level English skills. Because each such aircraft comes with dozens of technical manuals, all in English. Manufacturers strictly prohibit translating these documents into other languages, citing the reason that translation could lead to errors, which could affect flight safety.
For this, we established a specialized technical support center. Until now, these centers are still maintaining the 600 Boeing and Airbus aircraft currently in service in Russia — by the way, these aircraft now account for 90% of Russia's air transport.
The Aviation Industry is in Crisis, Russia Needs to Completely Reform Its System
But these aircraft are now "laboring" — they lack spare parts and mechanical devices, and even the technical information that the manufacturer should provide daily is no longer available. This technical information guides airlines in adjusting or modifying the aircraft, just like computer system updates. And we have been cut off from this technical information channel. Despite this, our engineers and technicians are still finding ways to keep these aircraft airworthy.
But this ultimately carries risks — spare parts will eventually run out. There is already a problem of counterfeit and substandard parts entering the aviation industry. In addition, why did Europe close their airspace to Russian aircraft? Their reason is: "We don't know how these aircraft are maintained."
— But from the performance of these engineers, Russia actually has excellent human resources. So, if this is the case, the problem with Russia's aviation industry's import substitution is not due to engineers, designers or pilots, but rather due to senior managers — those who are unable to reasonably organize and utilize this vast resource?
— To carry out innovation and effective organization, both professional knowledge and ability, as well as financial investment, are required.
Design Flaws in the Sukhoi Superjet
— There are reports that Russian airlines have refused to accept newly ordered domestic passenger aircraft. Why is that?
Oleg Smirnov: No company would refuse the MS-21 aircraft, everyone is looking forward to its delivery.
Figure caption: MS-21 Aircraft. Russian airlines are eagerly awaiting its delivery. Source: Screenshot from the official website video of the United Engine Corporation - Aviation Engine Company.
Russian Airlines (Aeroflot) indeed refused to accept the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) aircraft, but this was only reallocating it to its subsidiary currently operating the aircraft, "Russia Airlines" (Авиакомпания "Россия").
The Sukhoi Superjet faces another type of problem — design flaws exposed by the 2019 Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport crash (the plane landed hard and caught fire, causing casualties) remain unresolved. In the early versions of this aircraft, the landing gear strut and fuel tank shared a single longitudinal beam. In the event of a hard landing, the landing gear strut might pierce the fuel tank, leading to catastrophic consequences. Although the new imported alternative version of the aircraft has corrected this defect, 150 older aircraft are still in operation and have not yet been upgraded.
"We Have No Aircraft for Training Future Pilots"
— How is the situation with Russia's pilot force and training? A few years ago, there were reports that Russia planned to import pilots from abroad.
Oleg Smirnov: The issue of pilot shortages arose during periods of increased air transport demand. At that time, there were indeed not enough pilots to meet the transportation needs. Therefore, the government hastily decided to import foreign pilots, but this plan was never implemented. Because the foreign pilots who initially applied were not welcome in their home countries — either due to psychological or physical conditions not meeting standards, or due to insufficient professional competence. Later, we gave up this idea, and later there was no longer a need to import foreign pilots.
Since the early 21st century, Russia's annual air passenger traffic has remained around 100 million. During the same period, the US passenger traffic reached eight times ours — last year, the US passenger traffic was 850 million, China was 600 million, and Europe was 800 million. They are constantly progressing, while we have been stagnant for 20 years.
Regarding the number of aviation training institutions, there are currently enough, but these institutions generally lack "flight training equipment" — for the past 30 years, we have stopped producing training aircraft. We have no aircraft for flight training, and we cannot train future pilots. Previously, we had to buy training aircraft from the West, but now these aircraft have reached the end of their service life and have been forced to be grounded due to the inability to obtain spare parts. This issue also needs to be resolved urgently.
The Root Cause
— What do you think is the primary task (or main problem) facing Russia's aviation industry today?
Oleg Smirnov: First, administrative reform is necessary. At one time, due to the request of the United States, Russia abolished the Ministry of Aircraft Industry and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These two core institutions of the Russian aviation industry — the aircraft manufacturers and the operators (procurement agencies) — thus disappeared, and the responsibility system became unclear. Subsequently, the talent policy went astray: nepotism, cronyism, and the sale of positions emerged, pushing people without professional capabilities into leadership positions. This problem is not only present in the aviation industry, but is widespread across all fields, and has led to poor results. This is what we first need to change. Without solving this issue, we cannot achieve positive development. Both the aviation manufacturing and civil aviation industries require highly professional leadership to guide them.
Air transport is the only mode of transportation that operates without being on the ground, yet we have mixed it with the management model of railway transport. The current Federal Agency for Air Transport of the Russian Federation (Росавиация) has lost all management functions in the aviation field, becoming a purely administrative agency. The entire aviation industry is now in a state of "no owner"!
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7555335348579861055/
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