Russian aviation company Sukhoi has produced its first passenger jet since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The plane was developed in cooperation with former Cold War rival Boeing.
Until recently, Sukhoi, a venerated Russian aerospace firm with a long history based in the Siberian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, produced only warplanes. But that's about to change: The company proudly presented its new passenger plane, the Superjet 100, in the country's far east on Wednesday. Sukhoi unveiled the new plane, the first of this type since the demise of the Soviet Union, before a crowd of about 1,000 invitation-only Russian guests and foreign investors.
The Superjet provides room for between 78 and 98 passengers and is being built by the Russian company in cooperation with former Cold War enemies like America's Boeing. The company developed the Superjet 100 to compete with companies that already control major shares of the market for regional jets, including Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer.
Following a test phase in 2008, Sukhoi plans to produce up to 30 planes in 2009. Seventy-one Superjets 100 have already been ordered -- most of them by Russia's Aeroflot airline, but 10 have also been ordered by Italian airline Itali. The goal is to sell 1,000 planes during the next 15 to 20 years. Seventy percent of the aircraft are expected to be sold outside of Russia, the company announced. The maiden flight is expected to take place this year, and the company is expected to apply for an air worthiness certificate for the Superjet 100 from European and US authorities next year.
"A Child of the New Era"
Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogossian welcomed the "birth of a child of the new era, a modern and integrated industry." Clearly, Russia wants to use the passenger plane to revive its past successes in aviation. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, passenger plane construction suffered a dramatic crisis. Business contracts from the communist former Soviet satellite states were lost, and Russia itself came close to bankruptcy. During their best days, the Soviets built more than 100 passenger planes a year, but during the 1990s, production almost ground to a halt. Last year, a mere eight airplanes were delivered in the entire country -- as many as Europe's Airbus delivers in a single week.
President Putin has long been pushing to turn the country into an aviation superpower again. The man widely seen as his most likely successor -- Vice Premier Sergei Ivanov, who is currently responsible for military and industrial policy -- wants Russia to control between 10 and 12 percent of the global passenger plane market by 2024. At present, the Russian share of that market is less than 1 percent.
Ultimately, Putin wants to prove that the Russian aviation industry will soon be capable of doing more than merely supply Western aviation giants Airbus and Boeings with parts. And he wants to restore the injured pride of a nation once famous for its aviation achievements. Even Brazil has overtaken Russia with its Embraer planes -- a country that, at best is associated in Moscow with the export of coffee and soccer players.
Putin wants to prove his new Russia is capable of more than providing oil and natural gas. The giant empire wants to demonstrate that its rediscovered role as a superpower is not based simply on its nuclear arsenal and natural resources, but also on its imminent economic might.
