From the government with love

The Russian aircraft-making industry is still struggling to find a new identity. For nearly two decades now it has been rolling out a handful of airframes per year. The country’s aircraft manufacturers, merged under the umbrella of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), saw a modest growth in output last year as series production started of new models developed in the post-Soviet era. Meanwhile, the Russian government wants to see the national aircraft manufacturers among the global leaders and is prepared to continue supporting the industry.

The year 2012 appeared to be fairly successful for UAC. Although the corporation has not yet posted its operating and financial results for the year, UAC CEO Mikhail Pogosyan forecast in December that the 2012 revenue would have reached 180 billion rubles (about $5.8 billion), or 12.5% up on 2011, when it amounted to 161.7 billion rubles (the net loss for 2011 stood at almost 12 billion rubles).

UAC delivered 102 military and civilian aircraft in 2011. According to Pogosyan, last year’s deliveries to the Russian military amounted to 35 aircraft, outnumbering military aviation exports for the first time in the corporation’s history. The Russian Air Force received 10 Sukhoi Su-32 bombers, six single-seat Su-35 multirole fighters, its first two Su-30SM twin-seaters, and 15 Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainers.