Take-off 2006-11.pdf

november 2006 • special edition for Airshow China 2006

SUKHOI FIGHTERS

FOR CHINA

p.18

Sukhoi Su-80

in trials

p.36

Russian

Knights in

Chinese

skies

p.12

Be-200's

contracts

and

records

p.16

Around Russia in 13 hrs p.8

Russian ASMs on Global Market p.38

SUKHOI FIGHTERS

FOR CHINA

Sukhoi Su-80

Russian

Be-200's

Around Russia in 13 hrs

November 2006

Editor-in-Chief

Andrey Fomin

Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Andrey Yurgenson

Columnists

Alexander Velovich

Vladimir Shcherbakov

Special correspondents

Alexey Mikheyev, Victor Drushlyakov,

Yevgeny Yerokhin, Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev,

Alina Chernoivanova, Natalya Pechorina,

Sergey Popsuyevich, Piotr Butowski,

Alexander Mladenov, Miroslav Gyurosi

Dear reader,

You are holding a new special issue of the Take-Off magazine – a

supplement to Russian national aerospace magazine Vzlyot. The issue

has been timed with Airshow China 2006. By tradition, the event in

Zhuhai has been attended by numerous Russian participants and

businessmen. Small wonder, because the Russian-Chinese aerospace

cooperation has been given a strong impetus over the past 15 years. As

a result, China has become a top importer of Russian aircraft, first and

foremost, military ones. Today, the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27SK and

Su-30MKK aircraft have been the mainstay of PLAAF’s new-generation

fighter fleet. China imports Sukhoi jets, and its factories have mastered

their licence production. Engine deliveries also have been high on

the priority list of the Russo-Chinese aviation cooperation, with these

turbofans powering both Russia-supplied and advanced indigenous

Chinese fighters – J-10 and FC-1. Russian experts consult their Chinese

counterparts developing new aircraft, e.g. latest Chinese trainer L-15,

to power which an advanced Ukrainian-Russian turbofan engine of the

AI-222 family is being offered.

However, the Russian-Chinese cooperation does not limit itself to

warplanes. China operates Russian-made Mil Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters

and Ilyushin Il-76 freighters on a large scale, with early Beriev Be-103

light multipurpose amphibians and Tupolev Tu-204-120CE freighters

to start arriving to Chinese buyers this year. In the future, China

could begin acquisition of Ilyushin Il-96-400T long-range freighters,

Sukhoi Su-80 transport/passenger regional planes and Beriev Be-200

multipurpose amphibians. The cooperation has been on the rise, with

new big contracts for combat and commercial aircraft expected to be

placed soon. Therefore, the Russian-Chinese aviation cooperation is

central to this issue.

The Russian Air Force’s Russian Knights display team on Su-27

fighters and Anatoly Kvochur’s Su-30 crew of the Flight Research

Centre – both known well and liked by the China aviation enthusiasts

– are to participate in Airshow China 2006. Anatoly Kvochur’s team has

completed a record-breaking long-range non-stop flight exceeding

14,500 km. Both the Knights and Kvochur are covered by individual

articles in this issue. As usual, you are getting news on other key events

in the Russian and CIS aerospace fields over the past couple of months.

I hope the materials will come in handy for you to have a better grasp of

the large Russian exposition at the show and keep abreast of the latest

development in Russia’s aviation and space exploration fields.

I wish all participants in and guests of Airshow China 2006 to

meet interesting people, establish useful contacts and snag lucrative

contracts. See you at new air shows!

Design and pre-press

Grigory Butrin

Web support

Georgy Fedoseyev

Translation

Yevgeny Ozhogin

Publisher

Director General

Andrey Fomin

Deputy Director General

Nadezhda Kashirina

Marketing Director

George Smirnov

Executive Director

Yury Zheltonogin

Published with support from

Russian Knights foundation

News items for “In Brief” columns are prepared by editorial

staff based on reports of our special correspondents, press

releases of production companies as well as by using information

distributed by ITAR-TASS, ARMS-TASS, Interfax-AVN, RIA Novosti,

RBC news agencies and published at www.aviaport.ru, www.avia.ru,

www.gazeta.ru, www.cosmoworld.ru web sites

Items in the magazine placed on this colour background or supplied

with a note “Commercial” are published on a commercial basis.

Editorial staff does not bear responsibility for the contents of such items.

The magazine is registered by the Federal Service for supervision of

observation of legislation in the sphere of mass media and protection

of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. Registration certificate

PI FS77-19017 dated 29 November 2004

Print-run: 5600 copies

Sincerely,

Andrey Fomin

Editor-in-chief

Take-Off magazine

P.O. Box 7, Moscow, 125475, Russia

Tel. +7 (495) 198-60-40, 798-81-19

Fax +7 (495) 198-60-40

E-mail: info@take-off.ru

http://www.take-off.ru

contents

november 2006

MILITARY AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CCTC in Lipetsk gearing for early Su-34s

RusAF receives two upgraded Su-24Ms

First air regiment converted to Su-27SM upgraded fighters

Ka-50 production resumed for MoD

Upgraded MiG-31’s trials

Splav offers advanced derivatives of popular FFARs

Following Chkalov’s route

Anatoly Kvochur’s crew completes unique non-stop flight

On 8 September, the Flight Research Centre’s (FRC) pilots Anatoly Kvochur and Sergey

Korostiyev made an unprecedented-duration non-stop flight across Russia – from

Zhukovsky to Chkalov Island in the Far East and back. The flight on a Su-30 twinseat

fighter (side number 597), which included several mid-air refuellings, was dedicated

to the 70th anniversary of the historical flight by Valery Chkalov on the Tupolev ANT-25

to Udd Island now named after the legendary Soviet pilot. The FRC pilots covered over

12,400 km on the round trip within 13 h 09 min, having tested FRC-developed SRNK-21DV

satnav system on a real long-range mission. The system ensures self-contained mid-air

refuelling without information support from ground controllers. This made up a big

practical value for the flight, because the system tested may soon be fielded with the

Russian Air Force (RusAF), thus boosting their ability to fly across the vast expanses of

Russia. Andrey Fomin and Yevgeny Yerokhin tells about new Kvochur’s non-stop flight

and its importance for Russian Air Force development

Russian Knights in Chinese skies

There are many display teams throughout the world, showcasing their airmanship on

aerobatic and trainer aircraft or light fighters. However, the Russian Air Force’s Russian

Knights display team seems to be unique since it alone flies formation aerobatics on

heavy fighters such as Sukhoi Su-27s. The total weight of the team’s six planes accounts

for about 150 t, with their combined wingspan measuring over 75 m in tight formation.

Having celebrated its 15th anniversary this spring, the Russian Knights have been invited

to perform at Airshow China in Zhuhai and promise to put up a most breathtaking

aerobatics show this year. Brief excursus to 15 years-long history of the Russian Knights

and their recent achievements – in the photo report by Andrey Zhirnov

CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Be-200’s contracts and records

First Tu-204-120CE ready for shipment to PRC

Be-103s finally go to China

Russian engines to power Chinese aircraft

Sukhoi fighters in China

Today and tomorrow

Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27SK single-seat fighters have been in service with the China’s

People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force (PLAAF) for almost a decade and a half. The first

20 aircraft were delivered by KnAAPO in 1992, followed by 16 more fighters four years

later. In 1996, a contract was signed on tooling up the aircraft factory in the Chinese

city of Shenyang for licence-producing of 200 such aircraft. The first Shenyang-made

Su-27SK, designated as J-11, fulfilled its maiden flight on 15 December 1998. Over seven

years, KnAAPO had supplied the Shenyang plant with a hundred Su-27SK assembly kits

for licence production. However, the programme was suspended in early 2004 since

PLAAF had learnt to operate a more advanced Flanker version, the Su-30MKK multirole

twinseat fighter (Russia supplied 76 aircraft of the type in 2000–2003) and the Chinese

Navy was gearing up for receiving the even more sophisticated Su-30MK2 (KnAAPO

delivered 24 fighters of the type in 2004). Against such a backdrop, China decided against

continuing to make Su-27SKs whose combat capabilities were less sophisticated. A

number of options for resuming the J-11’s production were pondered, but in any case,

only upgraded multirole aircraft with the improved avionics and weapons suites were on

take-off november 2006

www.take-off.ru

contents

the agenda, both Russian-made (Sukhoi and KnAAPO offered their upgrade programme

dubbed Su-27SKM) and indigenous Chinese ones. It looks like that the jury is still out. In

addition, not a single new delivery contract has been made since 2003: having contented

themselves with a hundred Su-30MKKs and Su-30MK2s during 2000–2004, the Chinese

seem to be waiting for the Su-35, a drastic upgrade of the Flanker. Now, Russia pins its

hopes for resuming fighter deliveries to China on this aircraft. There is one more Sukhoi

plane that could go to China in the future. It is a derivative of the Su-33 carrierborne

fighter, which, according to experts, could come in handy in tailoring carrier air groups

on future Chinese aircraft carriers. 15 years of Sukhoi fighters service with the PLAAF and

their new derivatives prospects in China are reviewed by Andrey Fomin

INDUSTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Alexey Fyodorov: UAC to be registered this autumn

RRJ renamed SuperJet

SaM146 passes first stage of trials

Albatross to get second wind?

Ka-226 proves itself in mountainous terrain

Mi-38 reaches record-breaking flight altitude

An-148’s airlifter derivative makes its debut

Su-80GP in trials

Russian air-to-surface precision-guided weapons

on global market

In spite of the snags hit in the 1990s, Russian defence contractors have retained

fundamental technologies and advanced weaponry’s development and production

principles. Russia has always been a world leader in combat aircraft development, with

its aircraft weapon makers renowned for their effective and dependable weapons at all

times.

The Russian arms-making school of thought rests upon the systemic approach and the

ability to pinpoint the gist of the matter and embody simple but promising solutions to

enable aircraft and weapons to operate in most demanding environments. It is this that

makes Russian designers different from their Western colleagues who mostly focus on

solving clear-cut limited problems. Therefore, many countries, especially those striving

to pursue an independent national security policy, have been paying closer attention

to the materiel offered by Russian companies for export. Peter Stone reviews modern

air-to-surface guided missiles now offered by Russia for international arms market

Ivchenko-Progress engines of the future

CIVIL AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

New Tu-214s for Russian airlines

Yakutiya receives first Russian-made An-140

Tu-154M production goes on

Be-103 enters service

New M-101Ts for civil aviation’s flying schools

Leasing as Russian commercial aircraft industry’s driving force

COSMONAUTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Soyuz TMA-9 brings new crew and first female space tourist to ISS

Clipper loses ground to upgraded Soyuz

www.take-off.ru

take-off november 2006

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