Ukrainian design bureau Antonov is pushing for re-the establishment of aerospace industrial ties between states of the former Soviet Union, primarily between the Ukraine and Russia, in an attempt to ensure its survival.
Antonov is developing the An-70 four-engine prop-fan-powered military transport (the prototype of which crashed earlier this year) in collaboration with Russia.
Piotr Balabuyev, Antonov general designer, says: "It will be extremely difficult to bring the efforts on the An-70 to completion without rehabilitating and developing the aircraft industries of all the CIS...and, in the first place, without reconstructing former co-operation between the enterprises of the Ukraine and Russia."
The extent to which Antonov is dependent on other CIS states for the An-70 programme can be gathered from the fact that 85% of the component parts of the aircraft come from Russia.
In trying to resolve these problems, Balabuyev says: "We are working on the establishment of inter-state consortia which would consolidate the efforts of companies and assume not only the functions of design organisation and manufacturing facility, but also of the seller and provider of after-sale product support."
On a note of caution, however, he warns: "The establishment of such entities needs all-round Government support."
His comments are echoed by Russia's Alexander Bobryshev, chief deputy director at the Novosibirsk aircraft manufacturing plant, which is now flight testing the Antonov An-38 twin-turboprop.
Bobryshev calls for intervention at Government level to help ease the problems of separate manufacturing operations and design bureaux working across the newly created frontiers, saying, that military and civil Russian authorities should "...lead the solution". He adds: "I believe, by solving this problem, we can become reliable working partners for each other within the CIS and abroad."
Antonov is now struggling to prepare a second An-70 prototype to begin flight testing in 1996. The loss of the first aircraft threatens at least a further 18-24 month delay in the programme.
The design bureau is blaming the loss of the prototype aircraft on " a disagreement among the crew", claiming that pilot error, rather than a mechanical failure, led to the crash.
Other sources close to the programme contest this, saying that technical difficulties had emerged in earlier test flights.
Alongside the basic military-transport variant of the An-70, the design bureau is also studying other configurations, including the An-77TK passenger/ cargo aircraft, an air-to-air refueling tanker, and a maritime-patrol derivative.
Source: Flight International