29 August 2003 17:39
Flights but no Debuts
The newest in air defense and fancy flying will make up the lack of new Russian aerospace equipment at the MAKS International Aviation and Space Show
Alexei Khazbiyev
The 6th International Aviation and Space Show – MAKS-2003 – opened Tuesday, August 19 in Zhukovsky, not far from Moscow. 622 companies from 38 countries participated in this year’s show. Altogether they will demonstrate 203 aircrafts, a record-breaking figure for Russian though paltry by world standards. For instance, almost 2,000 companies participated in the last Air Show at Le Bourge.
Same old same old
 There will not be any debuts of any significance, even by Russian standards. Judging by the range of products offered by Russian factories, they would be better off in the museum business. The last real achievements of leading Russian combat plane manufacturers MiG and Sukhoi, the MiG-29, MiG-31 and Su-27, were designed back in the seventies.
Nonetheless, there is still interest in modernized MiG-29s and Su-27s. The modernized MiG and Su aircraft can be seen at the MAKS both in the open stands and in flight. MiG considers the training MiG-AT as a high point of its display. But they were unable to explain why they splurged on demonstration flights for an aircraft that will definitely not be added to the Russian air force’s arsenal and has no prospects on the world market. What earlier posed as a 5G fighter prototype – a Su-47 Berkut with forward-swept wings – turned out to be merely a “flying laboratory” according to Sukhoi’s General Director Mikhail Pogosyan.
Danger: aircraft
While Berkut demo flights are really worth seeing, it is apparently very dangerous to watch the new Russian-Ukrainian An-70 military transport aircraft. It could crash, or so Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov officially warned MAKS visitors. According to Mikhailov, “The An-70 should be barred from the MAKS to avoid any serious aviation accidents.” Russian pilots nicknamed this airplane the “flying coffin.” 382 serious defects have been discovered on the An-70 during its 386 flight hours, among them 52 registered cases of engine failure. Yet, the MAKS organizational committee for some reason didn’t listen.
As for civilian aircraft, Russian companies seem unable to make anything competitive and will surrender the Russian market to Western corporations in the near future. Russian air carriers are taking a keen interest in leasing Western planes and equipment. Thus Boeing Co. will demonstrate its medium-range Boeing-737 at the MAKS.
Flying low
The Russian aircraft industry has far better prospects in the specialized aircraft and helicopter sector. Irkut Corporation will present its Be-200 hydroplane along with a joint Russian-Israeli developed drone. This system will enable the Ministry for Emergency Situations to efficiently monitor the environment and promptly extinguish fires. Irkut hopes to sell as many as 320 such sets to the tune of $7 billion in the next 20 years.
The market for new Russian helicopters is significantly smaller, but their producers still have something to brag about. The Kazan Helicopter Plant will demonstrate its new light-weight helicopter, Ansat, at the MAKS. For the first time in Russian aviation history, factory that until now has focused on production has succeeded in making a fundamentally new helicopter all by itself. It is the only Russian helicopter equipped with a digital remote control system. The Ansat is designed to carry 8 passengers, and Kazan has already gotten over 10 advance orders for it, including some from the Defense Ministry. There is the potential to sell more than a hundred such helicopters on the world market. Another helicopter builder, Kamov, will show in addition to the Ka-266, its infamous Ka-50 Black Shark and Ka-52 Alligator, as well as the Ka-31 and Ka-32 anti-submarine helicopters, currently used in India for equipping war ships.
MAKS, however, will feature no space equipment. Because of satellites’ longer service lives and the failure of a number of mobile satellite communications projects, the number of orders for commercial satellite launches has plummeted. As a result, most enterprises in this business are currently in crisis. As the head of the Khrunichev Research and Production Center, Alexander Medvedev, admitted at a press conference, last autumn he was almost forced to stop paying his employees’ salaries. The situation now has slightly improved.
The performance of five flight groups promises to be the main hit of this year’s MAKS. The world-famous Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights), Strizhi (Swifts) and Rus’ (Russia) will fly Su-27s, MiG-29s and Su-30s all weekend. Nine pilots form the Italian flight group, Frecce Tricolor, flying Aeromacchi MB-339 airplanes, and nine more pilots from the French Air Force, flying the Alfajet light attack plane, will compete with the Russians. Finally, US flying aces will make solo flights in their F-15C for MAKS visitors.
The best of the worst
Despite the grandiose flight program, the MAKS’ status will fall a notch again this year. This has already become a tradition over the last few years. No large contracts have ever been signed at the MAKS. This year promises more of the same. Though the world’s leading aerospace companies come to Russia, they always participate in our air show in as limited a format as possible. Without the fantastic flight maneuvers, MAKS visitors would have been bored to death long ago.
However, boring air shows are not really the problem. There were no new developments at the last Le Bourge or at Farnborough. This has gotten the world aerospace community talking about the pointlessness of the very idea of air shows. Boeing head Philip Condit told Expert that if he were in the exhibition business, he would hold a single air show in Europe and only every four years. The trouble is that in contrast to the West, Russia will have nothing to show even in 7-8 years and no new aircraft whatsoever in the foreseeable future.
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