Ukraine is celebrating the Days of Antonov to commemorate the celebrated Ukrainian aircraft designer, chief designer Oleh Kostiantynovych Antonov, who would have been 100 years old today. The patriarch of Ukrainian aviation once said: “It is not enough to build planes that are equal to world models. We must be ahead of the pack.” Today this statement resonates particularly with Ukrainian aviators. Our country now has an opportunity to do just that. Proof of this is an open letter that a potential investor in Russia sent to the Antonov Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex, which was forward to the editorial office of The Day.
Dear “Antonovites,”
On Feb. 7 all aircraft builders of Ukraine, their colleagues in the states of the former USSR, and in other countries are marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Oleg Konstantynovich Antonov, one of the most distinguished aircraft designers of the 20th century. Under his guidance 20 types and over 80 modifications of planes of various classes and designations were developed, ranging from the multipurpose AN-2 to the world’s largest serially produced military transport plane, the AN-124 Ruslan. The AN-2, developed by Antonov in 1947, is a recordholder in its class according to the series size and lifespan. To date hundreds of these planes have been effectively used.
The name of the chief designer O. K. Antonov, which was honored by becoming the company trademark AN, ranks among such designers as Andrei Tupolev, Sergei Ilyushin, Aleksandr Yakovlev, and Igor Sikorsky. Today Antonov planes, which are flying all over the world, are not only a symbol of the Ukrainian aircraft industry but also a remembrance of the past glory and achievements of aircraft builders of the former USSR.
Today, the entire Ukrainian aviation industry is integrating around the design bureau founded by Antonov and which rightfully bears his name. The state aircraft-building corporation, the Antonov National Association, is a new, progressive step taken by the Ukrainian leadership, which is ahead of its colleagues in Russia, who for many years have stressed the need for such integration. Such a corporation is undoubtedly attractive to private investors. It has at its disposal not paper but thoroughly real designs of modern planes: the AN-140, AN-148, AN-70, and AN-14M, as well as its own production potential. The mobilization of foreign capital and extensive cooperation with suppliers throughout the world are providing the basis for a breakthrough to new technologies and new markets.
The Antonov Corporation appears capable of becoming one of the world’s top producers of transport and regional planes. This definitely requires a broader mobilization of national and foreign capital while preserving the state’s national interests, control, and support with regard to high-tech production that could become Ukraine’s calling card in the 21st century.
It is gratifying to know that the Ukrainian state has always helped and supported its aircraft-building enterprises; this has made it possible not to lose but to a certain degree advance their design and production potential, and preserve and expand the famous Antonov school of aircraft design. Today the current task is to expand production and develop a sales support system. With some experience in the sphere of aircraft leasing, we are prepared to assist our Ukrainian colleagues to establish this business and take part in modernizing aircraft production and creating effective post-sale support and maintenance.
It should be noted that the Ukrainian aircraft industry has always closely interacted with Russian colleagues and partners. No less than one-half of the worth of AN planes is formed in Russia. Thus, all the necessary prerequisites exist for even closer cooperation and the joint pursuit of a greater market share. The regional AN-148 model now completing certification tests can and should become an important tool. This aircraft is popular with Russian airlines and its development and full scale serial output in Russia is impeded only by the negative stance of certain government officials in this industry, who are acting for personal reasons rather than from the standpoint of national interests. The Antonov Corporation has demonstrated a wise and farsighted approach by meeting its Russian partners halfway and issuing a license for the production of the AN-148 in Voronezh. All that is left to do is to obtain authorization from the Russian bureaucrats who hold the controlling shares in the Voronezh aviation plant. Unfortunately, these bureaucrats who are seeking to torpedo the AN-48 project in Russia at all costs are not stopping at anything, including wrecking the aviation leasing system and bankrupting one of Russia’s best factories. This is being done in order to favor a similar Russian project on which the bureaucrats expect to spend staggering budget sums. They do not understand that they should place such projects into separate niches rather than lump them together. Otherwise, in view of the fact that the AN-148 is superior to the RRJ, it will become a real rival of Russian planes on the world market, and will make the RRJ project unprofitable.
A solution to this problem appears to have exceeded the boundaries of production relations and entered the political sphere. It must be raised at the presidential level in both countries, as in the case of the gas conflict. Here all individuals and organizations in Russia and Ukraine with enough common sense and interest in strengthening relations between our countries must unite their efforts. We will become stronger only if we act in concert. Then our aviation construction will not be wrecked, one element after another, which our rivals elsewhere in the world would very much like to see.
We will all have to work hard to reconquer the place in the world that the Soviet aircraft industry used to occupy. Therefore, let us unite our efforts and continue to develop. Our political leaders must be wiser and show more initiative than the lower-ranking bureaucrats who are involved in this process. We believe in the happy future of Russian and Ukrainian aviation construction, and we are prepared to help these processes to the best of our ability so that Antonov planes will continue flying the skies.
