Ukrainian aircraft designer Antonov has come to Farnborough to try and assemble a European consortium to bid for the Future Large Aircraft programme.
Piotr V Balabuyev, general designer of Antonov, is using the show as a forum to discuss partnerships with European manufacturers to collaborate on building a FLA based on the An-70.
"We're planning to have a number of meetings with European companies on this issue," he says. "Our main motto in this programme is joint effort - joining as many countries as possible because the cost of building these aircraft is very great."
Balabuyev estimates a $3-4 billion saving on development costs if the An-70 is chosen for the FLA.
"Our market research shows the demand for such an aircraft would be more than 1,000 units. This means a cost saving of up to $10 million on each aircraft manufactured," he says. "If Europe does not build the aircraft with us, they will have to buy it from us I'm sure."
The An-70 prototype began flight trials in December 1994, but the programme received a catastrophic set-back earlier last year when the prototype crashed in a mid-air collision with an An-74 chase aircraft.
Balabuyev says the flight trials are due to recommence before the end of this year. A second An-70 is undergoing systems testing now. Certification is expected in 1998.
Following the consolidation of other aerospace firms and production plants in the former Soviet Union, Antonov has formed a 13-partner joint venture STS to design, build, sell, maintain and support the An-70. The venture includes Samara Aviacor production plant in Russia and the Kiev aircraft production factory; the D-27 engine maker Progress in Zaporozhye in Ukraine; fan designer Aerosyla in Stupina, Russia; and Russian avionics firms Aviapribor and Electroavtomatica in Moscow and Leninets in St Petersburg.
Balabuyev says the Russian and Ukrainian governments which funded the development of the An-70 have options to purchase around 400 aircraft.
These orders however will depend on the strained resources of the two countries.
Balabuyev stresses that production of the An-70 will go ahead with or without European co-operation with final assembly at plants in Kiev and Samara, Russia.
"Nobody should be afraid of working together because enough jobs could be created for all participants. We should avoid face-to-face confrontation."
Source: Flight Daily News
