No major changes of direction (357 words)

Published: 3/8/2001

Mikhail Pogosayn, General Director of AVPK Sukhoi commenting on the producer's plans for its civil aviation division, anticipated little change from plans set out last year. The first area remained the development of light piston-engine aircraft, including the continued development of the S-38L agricultural aircraft, the Su-49 trainer and also upgrades of the Su-29 and Su-31. The S-38L was reported, in June 2000, as having had its initial flights postponed until this year, with work on its design suspended, given problems with funding and also with the aircraft's imported engine. To date, no clear information was available as to when the aircraft might fly. The Su-49 primary trainer, based on the Su-26/29, was still reported to be under development in 1998 (having been started in 1992). This again seemed due to lack of funding. The second concerned the S-80, which Pogoysan expected to enter into much delayed flight trials later this year, after reports of both technical and funding problems accounting for delays in the initial flights at Zhukovsky, in Moscow, in mid-2000. The aircraft still awaited a launch customer, with domestic operators reportedly baulking at the $5.5-$6m price tag. The other two areas of development for Sukhoi were the S-21 supersonic executive jet and a regional airliner development in the 70- to 100-seat segment. He gave nothing away about the status of the S-21 programme, though reports suggested possible discussions with Boeing on the development of this type of aircraft. Pogoysan has historically denied such reports. With the collapse of its negotiations with Alliance Aircraft, the company has been in serious discussions with a number of possible foreign partners over the development of a regional jet. These partners have remained unnamed, but Pogsyan has indicated that a decision would be forthcoming by the end of this year. When asked about the possibility of Russian partners, Pogoysan commented that the integration of the industry was underway and that Sukhoi would play its part. He was reluctant to discuss any possible cooperation and gave the impression that the integration was largely theoretical at present.

Article ID: 2400