Why Russia seeks aircraft co-production deals

MOSCOW, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Russian armored vehicle producers recently bought thermal imaging systems, also known as infrared night-vision devices, worth $1 billion, from French company Thales Group.

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter being supplied to India features French, Israeli and British avionics. The Sukhoi SSJ-100 program involved 30 foreign companies, including Boeing, Snecma, Alenia Aeronautica, Thales and Honeywell International.

Russia's United Aircraft-Building Corp., which consolidates private and state assets manufacturing, designing and selling military, civilian, freight and unmanned aircraft, and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. signed a contract to convert 30 A-320 and A-321 passenger airliners into cargo planes for AerCap, a global aviation and leasing company based in the Netherlands.

Fifteen of these airliners will be refitted at the town of Lukhovitsy near Moscow, and the rest in Dresden, Germany. This will make it possible to retain skilled workers in both countries and to pave the way for long-term cooperation.

Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Russian Technologies, an emerging industrial behemoth with assets in many sectors, from defense to automotive to civil aviation, discussed a Russian-U.S. joint venture now being established in the town of Verkhnyaya Salda in the Ural region.

Until recently, billets supplied by Russia's VSMPO-AVISMA, the world's largest titanium producer, to Boeing and Airbus were machined at plants in Europe and Japan and used for load-bearing structures of the Boeing B-787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A-380 landing gear.

This production will now be relocated to Russia. Boeing finds the deal profitable because the billets no longer have to be delivered to Europe and Japan and because Verkhnyaya Salda workers are paid less than their foreign counterparts. VSMPO-AVISMA also will profit from processing titanium shavings.

There are many other examples of cooperation between Russian and foreign companies. Mikhail Pogosyan, CEO of Russian aviation giant Sukhoi Holding Co., said 20 years ago the Soviet Union returned to Farnborough for the first time in 50 years, displaying its Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer tactical bomber and Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack jet, the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31 Foxhound fighters there.

At that time, the Soviet Union had the reputation of a formidable military superpower. But things have changed a great deal since then.

The Russian aircraft industry now offers military and civilian aircraft, air-traffic safety, servicing, repair and upgrade systems and related logistics. Moscow is actively involved in international co-production arrangements and is ready to implement other mutually beneficial projects.

Russian companies need to take part in international air shows such as Farnborough, and in Le Bourget near Paris, in Berlin, Singapore, Cape Town and on Langkawi Island, Malaysia, to promote Moscow's economic and political interests.

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(Nikita Petrov is a Russian military commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

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