December 18, 2024

Where Are All the Planes?


Where Are All the Planes?
Sukhoi Superjet 100 flying over Italy. SuperJet International, Wikimedia Commons.

Obyedinyonnaya Aviastroitelnaya Korporatsiya (United Aircraft Corporation), a Russian aerospace and defense corporation with a majority stake held by the Russian government, planned to produce 108 airliners after the start of the Russian War in Ukraine. According to the BBC Russian Service, in the ensuing two years, only seven Superjet 100 aircraft and two experimental Il-96-400M and Il-114 planes have been produced.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Western countries imposed stringent sanctions on the Russian aviation industry. For instance, the import of aircraft and spare parts for aircraft are banned. In response, on June 27, 2022, the Russian government approved a program to develop the air transport industry through 2030.

The program set ambitious targets: 14 aircraft by the end of 2022, 25 in 2023, and 69 by the end of 2024. By 2030, the plan aimed to deliver 1,032 passenger planes. However, the program faltered almost immediately, and delivery deadlines have already been postponed twice.

A source in the aviation industry told the BBC Russian Service that the state program was “an imitation of activity” and intended primarily to “calm government nerves.”

The construction of new Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft has been slowed by dependence on foreign components. Production stopped after sanctions cut off access to many of these parts. A stockpile of components had been reserved for production, but they were repurposed to maintain the airworthiness of existing planes. Efforts are underway to replace foreign components with domestic versions or to reorganize the supply chain to acquire foreign parts indirectly.

Similar challenges face the production of MS-21 aircraft. By 2025, seven engines are expected to be produced for this aircraft, enough to equip three MS-21s. Yet the updated aviation development program calls for nine MS-21s to be built by 2025.

In addition to new SSJ and MS-21 airliners, which were designed after the Soviet Union’s collapse, the program includes projects that originated during the Soviet era: the Il-96-300 and Tu-214. While these models are considered outdated both technologically and materially, they remain in the plan because of limited alternatives.

Even these older aircraft rely on foreign components that must be replaced through import substitution, the BBC Russian Service reported.

You Might Also Like

Ghost of Economy Future
  • December 15, 2024

Ghost of Economy Future

Russian analysts give their forecasts for what the economy might look like in early 2025.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955