Presidential Ils will come to change to dangerous Boeings

The Ilyushin Aviation Complex plans to renew Il-96 airliner release. The general designer of the company Nikolay Talikov reported about it.

Today on "Ils" which have been removed from a mass production only two years ago, in Russia anybody does not fly almost. Except one passenger – Vladimir Putin. It would seem, the best indicator of reliability of the aircraft not to find. But in recent years in our civil aviation at all this quality of planes regarded as of paramount importance. The tragic events connected with operation of American "Boeings", made it clear that a situation it is necessary to change in a root.

Last chance of rescue

Today it is fashionable to speak about import substitution, but at the mention of domestic civil aviation to use the word "rescue" more pertinently. And, as professionals in the branch speak, the chance of rescue remained with it one.

Closing of a mass production Il-96 in 2013 became only an echo of an acute crisis in the sphere of the passenger air transportation, bared after a series of failures of the Russian airliners in the 2001st. Then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev rigidly scarified the Russian civil aircraft construction as a whole, having declared the Russian cars insufficiently reliable, modern and economic from the point of view of fuel consumption. Owners of airlines understood statements of the head of ministry unequivocally: to wait for high-quality Russian cars it is not necessary, it is necessary to buy the foreign. As a result flights of tens Russian aviavessels with not developed flight resource, and it were suspended, in fact, means not only a country blow to the image as aircraft constructing power, but also loss huge financial means which quietly flowed into accounts of the western aviagiants – the American Boeing and the European Airbus.

Today 97 % of the planes maintained by the Russian airlines, – foreign production. It is a question not so simply of economic threat. It is threat of national security.

Tickets – for rubles, planes – for dollars

If at "Ilyushin" everything develops successfully, in the closest years of the company it will be possible to adjust small-scale production of "96th". According to the president of fund «Partner of civil aviation», the former deputy minister of civil aviation of the Soviet Union Oleg Smirnov, some years later at a favorable deal Russia can annually let out about 30-40 long-haul planes. For comparison, and Airbus make Boeing approximately on 300 cars in a year and divide among themselves practically all world market.

Thus, having reanimated one of the best aviation projects in the history, our country can become the appreciable player in the world market and at least satisfy internal demand for the planes, capable to fly over any of four world oceans. But the most important that these important for national economy, but absolutely ephemeral advantages to simple Russians will be accompanied by reduction of the cost of air flights. Cost western the aeromechanics, nominated in currency, is for a long time very heavy cargo for the Russian airlines selling to us tickets in rubles. After all besides actually purchase of the plane (as a rule, on credit), the companies pay for maintenance of the flight validity, that is repairs and routine maintenance, for personnel training, and all these payments are carried out today in dollars and euro.

The Il-96 plane in shop of final assembly. 2007. Photo: Marina Lystseva/TASS

Disorder chronicle

Production Il-96 renewal – is unconditional, a good omen but to lift domestic aircraft construction – and after it and civil aviation, – which systematically disorganized for 25 years, it is required much more.

Till 1990 our country was the great aircraft constructing power. «We had 13 500 aircraft in system of our civil aviation, and all of the Russian production», – Oleg Smirnov remembers. Our planes were maintained in 40 countries of the world. The reason of such success was that in the country strategy of a full aerofikatsiya which assumed both development of production of aircrafts, and construction of airfields and the airports operated. But after disintegration of the USSR strategy was replaced by the new – as now it is obvious, failure policy in the field of aircraft. As a result from 1400 air harbors functioning in the Union, remained only 280. And about 4 million people which lived in remote settlements in the Far East and in Siberia, were compelled to replace the place of residence.

It is indicative that for the same 25 years of the USA which did not refuse a universal aerofikatsiya, increased a passenger traffic of civil aviation from 140 million people (as much transported the Soviet planes by 91st year) to 800 million(!). While this figure fell in Russia to 93 million people. Thus 94 % of all transportations of the American airlines are the share of internal flights (that also corresponds to an indicator of the USSR of the beginning of the 1990th), and in Russia of 55 % of transportations is carried out abroad that speaks about degradation of internal airlines and as a whole about incorrectly chosen priorities in economic life of the country.

That very many experts are involved in work on hi-tech aircraft constructing production from America and Europe testifies to them. Own scientific and technical potential, turns out, is necessary to nobody and year from a year everything becomes more poor. To it it is necessary to add that for the USA civil aviation still is «a hot reserve», that is according to the first requirement civil planes can transport soldiers in an every spot on the globe. At Russia of such reserve already, in fact, is not present, as technological independence is lost.

"Silt" as national project

In that Il-96 – the big future, has no doubts. Today the competitor of "96th" can become only MS-21 – our joint project with China. But huge advantage of "Il" consists that it is already checked long years of accident-free operation. And the economic situation plays into the hands of our samoletostroitel: in present conditions to make expensive production at the Russian plants it is much more favorable, than on European, American and even Chinese.

The main thing not to miss this possibility, after all for the Russian civil aircraft construction it and the truth can appear the last. Today from the Soviet industrial and intellectual potential still there are any remains, but at such rates of squandering of own resources we will remain soon with anything. More precisely – with "Boeings".

While the getting is good, the long-term state policy (which it can quite be reflected in new strategy) in the field of aircraft is necessary for Russia. And as a pleasant bonus it would be necessary to disaccustom especially talkative officials to a habit publicly to throw mud at the domestic industry. There is a lot of ways: from financial to the judicial.

Leonid Homeriki