UAC CEO Yuri Slyusar on how the management of the company is changing and who will order Superjet100 New
General Director of UAC Yuri Slyusar
Next year, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is to deliver the first MC-21 medium-haul airliners to Rossiya Airlines. The aircraft’s certification is due to be completed in December. UAC performed 680 test flights out of 800, said the general director of UAC Yuri Slyusar in an interview with Vedomosti.
He emphasizes that the spent on the creation of MS-21 220 billion rubles. and subsequent investments can be considered investments in the development program of the aviation industry as a whole. The corporation counts on massive state support for the production and promotion of Russian aircraft, including to foreign markets. Last year’s model – government guarantees for the delivery of 59 Superjets for Red Wings, Russia and Azimut – laid the foundation for such support, but we are talking about expanding it, in particular at the expense of the National Wealth Fund (NWF), the mechanisms are being finalized, says Slyusar.
UAC, which became part of Rostec in 2019, then began to transform the management of the corporation. Slyusar tells what has been done and what needs to be done to make the UAC “from a” confederation “turn into a single company.”
– The first deliveries of MS-21 are expected next year. What will be its real value for the first buyers?
– Of course, we cannot name the real cost, none of the world’s manufacturers ever does this. It is always a subject of negotiations. It depends on many factors, including the appearance of the aircraft, the amount of advance payments, etc. We are well aware that the cost should be comparable to the price of competitors. Airlines are unlikely to be ready to buy more expensive equipment and pay a lease payment that differs from a similar payment for a foreign-made aircraft.
– And the catalog price?
– Catalog price – about $ 97 million. Catalog prices are comparable to the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 families.
– How many flights do you need to fly on the MS-21 to get certification from the Federal Air Transport Agency?
– The number of flights is determined by the program of ground and flight certification tests, agreed with the Federal Air Transport Agency. According to preliminary estimates, the certification of the aircraft required about 800 flights. This number can change both up and down, depending on the ability to work out several modes in one flight. Currently, the planes make about 40 flights a month. More than 680 flights have already been completed.
– Do all four MC-21 prototypes take part in these flights? They have the same structural differences.
– Four experimental MC-21-300 aircraft are taking part in certification flight tests, two more aircraft – resource and static, in addition, one more experimental aircraft with a PD-14 engine.
The certification program is extensive and the machines are specialized. Accordingly, airplanes may differ in terms of test equipment and even in terms of design. For example, the first aircraft were originally equipped with an emergency escape system and a tail support. But I will emphasize again: all aircraft take part in the certification program. Most of the tests have already been passed.
– How much money was invested in the creation of the MS-21?
– It’s not just the creation of an airplane. This is a whole program for the development of the aviation industry, the creation of a whole range of new technological solutions, composite production, the modernization of a number of cooperative enterprises for the MC-21 program. To date, investments have amounted to about 220 billion rubles, and this is not the final figure. Of these funds, the largest share is R&D – more than 170 billion, the remaining funds are primarily technical re-equipment. In addition, we invest in an after-sales service system.
Basically, investments in the project are budget funds, about 150 billion rubles, and more than 50 billion rubles. – own and borrowed funds, the rest – investments of “Rostec”.
“Program 59” has proven itself well “
– After a meeting with the president at the MAKS air show in July, Industry Minister Denis Manturov said that the president supported last year’s decisions to market 59 Superjets, a RUB 140 billion government guarantee. – “as a basis” for ensuring the supply of our civil aircraft and helicopters in the future. What did they mean?
– Let me remind you that the decision on 59 aircraft, which was made in May 2020, allowed not to stop production of the Superjet during the difficult period of the pandemic.
The President then supported us. The production of “Superjets” continues, the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur is working. The aircraft turned out to be even more in demand during the pandemic, on the basis of “Superjets” Russian airlines opened several dozen new routes, and in just a few past years – about 200 routes. The car has become the backbone of the regional transport fleet, flying up to 8-9 hours a day. From the point of view of transport accessibility, the development of regional transportation, the preservation of skilled jobs and the increase in the rate of aircraft production, state support has justified itself.
The idea of the meeting is what the minister was talking about: to keep all the best from the applied approach on 59 aircraft. But to form a comprehensive support system, taking into account the use of funds from the NWF, partnerships with leasing companies, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport. Program 59 has proven itself well over a year and a half and needs to be scaled up, extended and expanded the aircraft line.
– That is, there are state guarantees for the supply of all Russian-made aviation equipment?
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