Russia's aerospace industry is facing a critical period as it seeks to return to its former glory.
Things have not been great in recent times for this once-proud industry - a trailblazer that was the first to put a human in space and fly a supersonic airliner.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening up of the former Eastern Bloc countries to Western commerce dealt an almost fatal blow to the region's once giant civil aircraft manufacturing industry. The design bureaux and factories could no longer rely on a guaranteed flow of orders for Ilyushin and Tupolev jets to fill their production lines.
During the 1990s, half-hearted efforts were made to inject life into the new-generation airliner types developed at the end of the Soviet era, largely by adopting Western powerplants. Although this initiative was largely unsuccessful, it did pave the way to a stronger East-West relationship that manifested itself in Russia's first truly international airliner programme - the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
This 100-seat regional jet is a shop window for Russia's international collaboration efforts, so its success - not just in its home markets, but globally - will be an important barometer for Western suppliers seriously considering a role in Russia's next-generation MS-21 airliner.
This 150- to 210-seat airliner - potentially the world's first true next-generation narrowbody - will be Russia's first airliner programme to be fully designed, developed and produced within the consolidated aerospace industry under the United Aircraft umbrella.
The Superjet has had some success, but it is still to land a major overseas client. The market for all small jets is going to be tough in the near term and when sales recover, the geared turbofan-powered Bombardier CSeries is likely to offer stiff competition in this sector.
According to Flightglobal's ACAS database, there are around 1,000 jets flying with Russian airlines - two- thirds of which were designed and built locally. But the Western share of the market is gradually increasing, particularly given the availability of relatively cheap secondhand Airbuses and Boeings.
For the MS-21 to succeed it cannot rely solely on its home markets - hence UAC's ambition to place three-quarters of its projected 1,200 sales with overseas clients. Creating an airliner capable of achieving this, amid the biggest upheaval in the industry's history, will be no mean feat. But Russia knows this is a mission on which it must not fail.
Superjet: Russia's first truly international airliner
Source: Flight International
