Will the MS-21 and Tu-214 be able to peacefully coexist and be produced in parallel

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Sanctions imposed on Russia for its special operation in Ukraine have left our country unable to purchase new Western-made airliners and maintain existing ones. Those leasing Boeings and Airbuses that remained in the hands of domestic air carriers have actually become restricted to travel abroad, since they are threatened with arrest and confiscation abroad. Therefore, the attention of the federal authorities was drawn to national aircraft manufacturers, which automatically led to an increase in domestic competition.

Battle for the Russian sky


In the most demanded market segment, medium-haul, our main hope was the MS-21 liner. The plane turned out to be really very decent and quite competitive with Western and Chinese counterparts. However, its main problem turned out to be that a promising Russian medium-haul airliner, like the short-haul Superjet-100, was being developed as part of broad international cooperation, that is, it had a large number of foreign-made components in its design. And our geopolitical opponents did not fail to take advantage of this.



First, sanctions were imposed on the supply of composite materials for the production of the "black wing". Then Russia was denied the sale of avionics and other electronic devices for the MS-21, as well as for the Superjet. We were promised that all the missing components of foreign production would be completely imported, but this task is not as simple as it is being made out to be. Real import substitution with bringing the level of localization to the declared 99% may take many years. An indirect confirmation of the fact that the completely "Russified" MS-21 will have to wait is the decision to resume, or rather, increase the production of the Soviet medium-haul Tu-214, which should serve as a kind of "crutch" for domestic air carriers.

And here the most interesting begins. Remember the scolding that President Putin publicly gave to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Manturov, for the lack of firm orders for domestic aircraft? The minister, stunned by the unexpected harshness, with "fish eyes" listened to the following from the head of state under the cameras:

Denis Valentinovich, you have drafted, but there are no contracts. I'm telling you ... Now we'll finish the meeting, why are we going to dive here with you? I know that there are no contracts at the enterprises, the directors told me. Well, why are you really playing the fool?

The fact is that syslib Manturov is the patron of the Superjet-100 and MS-21 projects and is not at all interested in the appearance of internal competition from the Kazan Tu-214. Last year, an agreement of intent was signed for the acquisition by Aeroflot, the main national air carrier, of 210 MS-21s, 89 Superjet-NEWs and 40 Tu-214s between 2023 and 2030 in the amount of 1 trillion rubles. That's just a firm contract so formalized and was not.

The head of Aeroflot, Sergei Aleksandrovsky, spoke rather vaguely about the real market prospects of the medium-haul MS-21:

But how the MS-21 will fly, how long it will be in controlled operation, how the process of joint improvements will take place - no one will answer these questions now. The presence in the fleet of Tu-214, a flying aircraft with understandable characteristics, will allow Aeroflot to bring the MS-21 to the required conditions in a calm rhythm.

At the same time, he threw a stone into the Tu-214 garden:

In the part of the Tu-214, we will definitely have requirements for the transition or bringing it to a two-member crew. This is a difficult task for the manufacturer, but we will not remove this requirement and will insist on it.

The question of whether the crew of a passenger liner on medium and long-distance routes should be two-member or three-member is very debatable. But the leading domestic air carrier made it clear what he expects from the Kazan Aircraft Plant to remake the cabin layout. And this, in turn, means additional costs in the absence of firm long-term orders for KAZ. There is a certain conflict of interest.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the leadership of Tatarstan went on the attack, not wanting their Tu-214, produced in homeopathic doses, to become either a “crutch” or a “temporary gag”. The head of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, made a move by ordering four medium-haul liners for the regional airline UVT-Aero, and started talking about starting to produce 20 Tu-214 aircraft a year in Tatarstan from 2027, bringing their total number to 2030- my already up to 115.

The plans are very ambitious, requiring serious investments in expanding the production capacity of KAZ. Will they be implemented?

Coexistence


In fact, the MS-21 and Tu-214, despite the same medium-haul class, can coexist quite comfortably, being produced in parallel. The basic modification of MS-21-300 is designed to carry from 160 to 211 passengers. In the MS-21-200 version, it will be able to carry from 130 to 176 people. In the indefinite future, the modification of the MS-21-400 in a single-class configuration assumes the presence of 256 passenger seats. At the same time, it was originally a passenger liner.

The potential of the Tu-214 in this regard is much wider. As Yury Slyusar, head of the United Aircraft Corporation, said during the National Exhibition of Civil Aviation Infrastructure NAIS, there are plans for the further development of this project:

We are making a cargo and shortened version for flights to the Far East. We will increase gradually.

In a shortened version of the Tu-214 in the business version, it will be able to cover up to 9 thousand km, and in the passenger version, its flight range will be 7-8 thousand km. Apparently, this airliner will be based on its half-brother Tu-204-300, also known as Tu-234, which has a shortened fuselage and increased flight range. Its cabin was originally designed for two crew members, and the passenger capacity is 166 people.

The basis of the cargo Tu-214, presumably, will be some of the modifications of the Tu-200S, probably the Tu-204-120CE, which has already been certified according to European standards and received a type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). After the leasing Boeings and Airbuses became restricted to travel abroad, Russia's ability to export something by air was sharply reduced. Such medium-haul trucks manufactured by KAZ may even come in handy.

In the future, it is possible to push the modernized Tu-214 into a different weight category, separating it from the MS-21. If we reduce the weight of the Tu-214 through the use of composite materials and install more powerful modern engines, while lengthening the fuselage, we can get a version for 236, 248 and 254 passenger seats, which will make the stretched MS-21-400 unnecessary.

The fact that everything is going to the parallel production of Tu-214 and MS-21, we they said for a long time and repeatedly.
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30 comments
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  1. +13
    13 February 2023 12: 57
    Only mass executions will save the Motherland .. While all this liberal bastard is sitting at the top of our country, there is nothing good ahead of the country and cannot be.
    1. +11
      13 February 2023 13: 27
      And you need to start with the initiators of the production of all sorts of shit like superjets, after confiscating everything they have acquired by excessive plundering.
      1. -13
        13 February 2023 14: 10
        You just have to confiscate)) Bolshevik genes do not give rest? )) By the way, don't work hard - the general designer of SSJ died in a memorable crash in Indonesia, so "everyone has already been shot before you")))
        1. +8
          13 February 2023 21: 18
          Quote: whitebeard
          You just have to confiscate)) Bolshevik genes do not give rest? )) By the way, don't work hard - the general designer of SSJ died in a memorable crash in Indonesia, so "everyone has already been shot before you")))

          You forgot the "family" Pogosyanov, dad "supervised", and the son was Ch. boom. laughing They are doing well now, I must say.
          1. +1
            14 February 2023 00: 53
            I know the family well. According to MIIGA. The whole shobla now lives in Los Angeles.
            1. 0
              14 February 2023 05: 54
              It would be nice to relocate them to the New Siberian Islands...
    2. -18
      13 February 2023 14: 08
      This "liberal bastard" saved the country from collapse under sanctions. If Khazins and Glazyevs were driving the economy, we would have turned into an economic North Korea long ago;)
      1. +1
        13 February 2023 21: 41
        if North Korea had those resources and those fertile lands, like the Russian Federation, they would have looked where it was ...

        they saved the country ... sorry, now, according to some reports, even with the production of sour cream, problems began to arise ... SOUR CREAM!!!! there are no civil aircraft, there is no automotive industry, the seeds of your "record" crops are very much imported, broiler eggs are imported, pharmaceuticals are imported ...

        what were the first actions of nabiulina after February? raised the Central Bank rate to 20% ... ostensibly to fight inflation .... but in fact, in order to leave production workers without loans and to prevent development here ... Malibu rescuers ... only instead of small you need to put me, but space before second part
        1. -6
          13 February 2023 23: 55
          Quote: Nikolai Volkov
          now, according to some reports, even with the production of sour cream, problems began to arise ... SOUR CREAM!!!! there are no civil aircraft, there is no automotive industry, the seeds of your "record" crops are very much imported, broiler eggs are imported, pharmaceuticals are imported ...

          It's too early to gloat.
          Sour cream / eggs will disappear from stores, crops will collapse to the levels of the RSFSR - then you will dance on the bones. If of course this happens.
          In the meantime, for now, Kamaz, a representative of the automotive industry, which, as it were, has resumed production of the K5.
          Other automakers are looking for the same and finding ways out of the abyss in which they found themselves through no fault of their own. Sollers already supplies cars under its own brand.

          Aircraft manufacturers are building new production facilities for aircraft components and aircraft engines.
          1. -1
            14 February 2023 00: 55
            Automakers? Who is this? WHERE? Did they exist before?
      2. -1
        14 February 2023 13: 46
        Quote: whitebeard
        This "liberal bastard" saved the country from collapse under sanctions. If Khazins and Glazyevs were driving the economy, we would have turned into an economic North Korea long ago;)

        Enough with this ridiculous nonsense, your time is running out, because there will never be any more before and this is really good.
    3. 0
      14 February 2023 14: 01
      Hmm...shootings are good. What's the point?... hanging out with spiders in a jar? Are some better than others? By what principle!
      AND WHO? FOR WHAT? for what purpose!?....this principle will support! Do you have an answer to this question?
      or SHO? ... "The market will decide everything!"
  2. +12
    13 February 2023 13: 25
    It was clear to a hedgehog that all this fuss with the development and production of a passenger superjet from foreign components at a non-core enterprise producing fighter jets was a banal development (squandering, taking away) of budget funds. This is despite the fact that there was an economical one that passed all certifications and tests, met all European requirements, surpassed Boeings and Tu-204s in terms of characteristics, and was also approved for operation around the world. No, it was necessary to cut tens of billions of dollars for the development and production of a combined superjet hodgepodge, in order to end up with nothing. But how much was the advertising epic noise with this shit.
    1. -8
      13 February 2023 13: 47
      Quote: Alex
      superior to Boeing and Airbus Tu-204

      Only Iran even disdained to take it ... although for the sake of it even the rights to PS90 were bought back ...

      Quote: Alex
      end up with nothing

      Well, when the SVO was started, one had to think how many troughs it would break in the economy.
      In other words, for aircraft manufacturers, this is for the best.
      A slight delay in terms (2-3 years) is fully compensated by the volume of orders and finished aircraft, and especially components for them.
      UEC is already reporting with might and main on the construction of new industries.
    2. -1
      13 February 2023 14: 15
      No, do not confuse the cut and the administrative resource. SSJ turned out to be a normal plane. Albeit with foreign kits, but then it was absolutely normal, our manufacturers still could not then give something comparable in quality and consumer characteristics. But the fact that it was given for development to a company that had no experience in developing a citizen is yes, but this is precisely the Pogosyanovsky administrative resource. Which, among other things, manifested itself in the allocation of funds specifically for a narrowly niche regional aircraft, which was very problematic from the very beginning to recapture the design costs of which outside the system of other manufactured aircraft (as Boeing and Airbus do), but on the other hand, it is convenient to develop new competencies on a small amount of work . But this is clearly not cut. Cut - this is to Rogozmos;)
      1. +1
        13 February 2023 14: 41
        Quote: whitebeard
        Cut - this is to Rogozmos

        All that Roskosmos does not give rest ...
        Regarding the existing base and the general economic and technological situation in the country -
        done/is done, in general, everything that is necessary and possible.
        One quality of manufacturing / assembly / testing has been raised, and the number of emergency starts has been reduced - already a plus.
        And what did Rogozin grind with his tongue - well, that's the thing ...
  3. +2
    13 February 2023 14: 23
    These aircraft will be produced in parallel anyway, this was not a question initially. The question was - in what quantities, because the production capabilities of Tupolev are very limited, as, in fact, with the MS-21. But investing in the expansion of the production of the promising MS-21 is more profitable than in the Tu-214. However, the 2nd can be our analogue of the Chinese C919 - cheap, without any breakthrough technologies. True, I doubt that Tu-214s will be able to produce cheaply, especially since they should not chase the number of aircraft produced, because more spare parts must be produced, with which Tu-3s have always had problems and which is unacceptable for current airlines (the same problem was and SSJ). However, if they can get rid of the 14rd crewman, quickly reengineer on the PD-XNUMX, then the prospects for expanding its production become more optimistic, especially since you can start just with expanding the production of spare parts.
  4. +3
    13 February 2023 16: 08
    Well done Kazan, you are doing the right thing, only with a sledgehammer and a crowbar you can protect yourself! The comprador power of the Kremlin understands only force. Tu-214 and MS-21 are different aircraft. Tu-214 is located in a niche between long-haul and medium-haul, and MS-21 is a typical short-medium haul aircraft. Tu-214 can be used on non-stop lines Moscow - Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Petropavlovsk - Kamchatsky. Tu-214 should produce 40 aircraft per year. How many pilots are two or three, what kind of kerosene consumption is the problem of the state, not the carrier company, the state can compensate for part of the costs with subsidies. Now the state task is to provide Russia with its aircraft, and not to fill the private pocket of the air carrier. If you are chasing economy for the sake of the collapse of the development of your aviation, then take a horse, it does not need three pilots, it eats hay and does not need kerosene.
    1. 0
      14 February 2023 13: 57
      The Tu-214 can be completely modified for use in the interests of the Ministry of Defense, for example, an AWACS aircraft, or a special reconnaissance one, it is ideal for these purposes.
      1. 0
        14 February 2023 14: 08
        Quote: sgrabik
        The Tu-214 can be completely modified for use in the interests of the Ministry of Defense, for example, an AWACS aircraft, or reconnaissance

        Intelligence is already there.
        And in the Arctic Ocean - as many as 17 boards.
        2 at the Russian Post.
        In general, Mr. customers supported the project as best they could with orders.
        But he did not enter commercial AKs, either inside or for export.
        With Western avionics and Rolls Royce engines - 5 pieces were delivered to Egypt at one time ...
  5. +2
    13 February 2023 18: 34
    It’s hard to reforge the lackeys of Western civilizations without physical impact on the brain centers ... Yes, and it’s hard to break it, break it and suddenly build it, and even without the supervision of an older capitalist brother ... And this is in aviation where you can at least choose ... but car builders like this cash flows effectively steered that there was no stake or yard left - the steppe ... all around ...
  6. -2
    14 February 2023 00: 51
    What's the difference, 2 or 3 crew members?
    1. 0
      14 February 2023 20: 59
      Money difference ;) No modern commercially built airline will operate a 3 member aircraft with outdated, less fuel efficient engines when more fuel efficient aircraft are available on the market. Of course, things can come to the point that such machines, even under conditions of techno-cannibalism and parallel imports, will be impossible to operate. But while there is a more economical opportunity, airlines will use it, especially since, with all their desire, Tu could not satisfy the demand from aviators if they all rushed to buy it together. Even in Soviet times, Tu could only be made by the aircraft themselves in large quantities, with spare parts and service staff, because of this, they had big problems. Well, if you take a state customer, where they don’t count money, that’s another question, but they won’t order many of these aircraft.
  7. -1
    14 February 2023 06: 08
    It is necessary to produce Tu and Il, and let Manturov give the people his palace in Gelendzhik.
  8. 0
    14 February 2023 09: 16
    The Tu-334M should be launched yesterday for local airlines instead of the Il-114, which is already outdated on the slipway, enough to suck money with this SJ100 vacuum cleaner!
    1. 0
      14 February 2023 21: 06
      The Tu-334 can still be produced now, it is not a rival to the SSJ, the need for airlines will be greater than Sukhoi is able to produce. Another question is that at one time it was not worth starting a new Russian civil aviation industry with a narrow niche SSJ, when Tu-334, if not the most advanced at that time, but completely ready, was ready and certified. Although, of course, the reasons of that time can also be understood - none of the airlines wanted to buy the Tu-334, which was unpromising for a long time, when foreign short-range routes were available on the market, so if they had bought, then something modern that could be operated for many years with profit , so the designers began to deal with SSJ. But the very choice of such a market segment would not have made it possible to recoup the design in the foreseeable future, it was necessary to start immediately with the MS-21 by joint efforts. Or engage in the modernization of the Tu-214.
  9. -1
    14 February 2023 10: 12
    Yes, I didn’t read it, it doesn’t make sense that, for how many years we have been talking, but things are still there, life teaches nothing, from a country one of the leaders of the world, they have turned into a country with a collapsed economy. Whom we have to create airplanes and cars, neither scientists, nor engineers, nor specialists, brought up the generation of Dani Milokhin and expect them to create something for you
    1. 0
      14 February 2023 11: 11
      Quote: OLEG CZIGANOV
      turned into a country with a collapsed economy. Who we have to create aircraft and cars, no scientists, no engineers, no specialists

      In the Russian Federation, they create new space rockets and vehicles, new aircraft and engines for them, develop power units - VVER-1200, VVER-1300.
      BN-800 was transferred to MOX fuel in 2022...
      Icebreakers LK-22220, gas carriers, trawlers are being built.

      The year of sanctions, the most severe stress test of strength -
      the economy is up and running.
  10. -1
    14 February 2023 11: 36
    Will MS-21 and Tu-214 be able to coexist peacefully

    Aircraft will be able to coexist, but the companies that produce them will never.
    Someone will definitely devour someone, as Sukhoi ate the MiG.
  11. 0
    14 February 2023 12: 43
    stupid title question. not only will they be able to, but besides the hunger of aircraft in the Russian Federation, it is possible to produce everything we can for 20 years. just remove effective managers from the feeder, especially abroad.