Russian manufacturer MAPO plans to join a consortium of companies to produce the Tupolev Tu-334 medium commercial transport. The consortium is being formed by the Tupolev design bureau, the Aviant production plant of Kiev, Ukraine and MAPO.
According to MAPO general director and general designer, Nickolay Nikitin, the three firms and Russia's aircraft industry research institutes have produced a programme business plan, which has received full approval of the Russian Government.
Nikitin says MAPO wants to become a diversified aircraft manufacturer, lowering the proportion of work performed on military programmes to 20-25%. The MAPO production centre in Moscow is operating at only 12% of its full capacity. While Russia's ministry of defence continues to provide financing for some development and modernisation programmes, the Russian air force has not bought any MAPO MiG-29 Fulcrums since 1992, so the company derives most of its income from export contracts.
MAPO recently signed a contract to deliver MiG-29s to Bangladesh, but Nikitin declines to disclose the contract sum or the number of aircraft to be delivered. Press reports from Dhaka estimate the contract value at $135-150 million. It is possible that some of this money will be invested in the Tupolev Tu-334 programme, which for years has been suffering from insufficient financing. The first example of the 100/130-seat twinjet flew in February, about four years behind schedule.
Meanwhile, the Ilyushin Il-103 piston-powered five-seat aircraft, which is also produced by MAPO, recently fulfilled its first export contract with the delivery of six to Peru. Last year the Il-103 became the first Russian aircraft to receive US Federal Aviation Administration certification.
Source: Flight International
