Motorstroitel provides Russian replacement (450 words)

Published: 3/15/2001

Leonid Terentyev, General Director of the An-70 consortium STS (Medium Transport Aircraft) has announced that Ufa Engine-building Production Organisation (UMPO) has decided to withdraw from the programme to develop the D-27 engine for the An-70 until 2006. He said that UMPO had stated that the plant's heavy commitment to deliver the AL-31F engines for exported Su-27s and Su-30s. Along with the continued development of its car engine building business; due to launch production of the M-412 2 litre engine in 2002 with further products to follow. The obvious conculsion being that the two areas offered more predictable paybacks on investment than the staggering An-70 programme. The departure of UMPO has apparently been coordinated by RAKA and the Russian Ministry of Defence, with Salyut taking the leading Russian role in the programme supported by Samara based Motorstroitel alongside ZKMB Progress. UMPO's decision comes at a poor time for the STS consortium, given the recent problems with the aircraft due to the crash of the latest An-70 prototype. The investigation of the crash has been completed , but the results will not be released according to Terentyev. Also despite the effusive support for the programme by the respective governments, an aircraft deal has yet to be struck with the MoDs of Russia and Ukraine. There have even been reports of the Ukrainians looking for a substantially lower purchase price for the aircraft. Russian partner Aviakor is also in financial difficulties and is reported to be seen by STS as being unable or unwilling to commit funds to the move to serial production ahead of government funding. With recent reports suggesting that Aviastar could be replaced by the winner of a tender from the Russian side. Funding for the engine's development has always been tight, with the bulk of money provided by the Ukrainian partner, ZKMB Progress (15 engines produced by September 2000), which announced the need for a further $30m engine investment last year, to reach certification and production. It remains unclear if the current partners have sufficient financial resources to fund the ongoing programme, without governemtn help. The loss of a major partner at this point for the An-70 programme, must be viewed as a major blow. Particularly if it is seen as an indication that, despite a very positive public stance, that members of the consortium remain wary of both the aircraft's prospects and probably more importantly, the size of funding still required to be committed without an order on the books. Finally, there is the ongoing fear that the engine may be seen as the weakest part of the package, which, in the event of foreign sales, may not be included.

Article ID: 2424