Company Watch - Sukhoi Aircraft.

Oct 1, 2007

Russia plans to sell at least 1,000 of its new Superjet regional airliners, with 70 percent destined for export, manufacturer Sukhoi said on Tuesday. The ambitious target exceeds the total number of comparable models on the backlog of the Canadian Bombardier and Brazilian Embraer firms who currently dominate the market for planes under 100 seats. The 78-98 seat Superjet will be unveiled on Sept. 26 at a Sukhoi jet fighter factory in Russia's Far East. It is the country's first significant civil aviation project since the end of the Soviet Union. Sukhoi Chief Executive Mikhail Pogosyan said the state-owned company plans to reach a peak production rate of five or six aircraft a month in 2010 and would break-even after 300 planes. So far it has sold 73 Superjets, mainly to Russian airlines for delivery starting in 2008. It aims to get the planes certified for use in Europe and the United States next year. Sep 26, 2007

Sukhoi Superjet regional aircraft plans to make the first test flight by the end of 2007 and bring the order book up to 100 jets valued at USD$2.8 billion. Contractors said there were no signs of a further sale to coincide with Sept. 26's roll-out, which is instead being presented as a symbol of Russia's industrial revival. About 1,000 visitors are expected in Komsomolsk for the roll-out, straining the resources of a town once forbidden to travelers as a nerve centre of Soviet submarine and military aircraft production. Pogosyan, a charismatic engineer credited with selling his Superjet ambition to the Kremlin and foreign investors, gave journalists and suppliers a tour of the massive KnAAPO plant. Boeing is now advising Sukhoi on the Superjet but has not invested any cash. "We have a serious past but the world has changed and we could not continue without a strong civil base," Pogosyan said. Sep 26, 2007

Guests were kept well clear of its 15,000 military workers or hardware from Russia's biggest war plane maker, apart from an occasional glimpse of a Sukhoi "Flanker" -- a legendary fighter designed to combat the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle. Russian aviation collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union but President Vladimir Putin has promised to breathe new life into the sector in a move to reassert Moscow's clout. Russian aerospace ambitions have caused some unease in Europe after a state-controlled bank grabbed a 5 percent stake in Airbus parent EADS last year. Nerves were also rattled when Moscow recently restored strategic bomber patrols. In Sukhoi's workshops, traces of the Cold War remain as welding sparks fly under giant paintings depicting the strength of the Soviet worker. But Western industrialists were left with few doubts that Sukhoi is retooling for a commercial battle. Sep 26, 2007

Snecma, part of French conglomerate Safran, teamed up with Russia's NPO Saturn to build the Sukhoi Superjet's engines. French firm Thales is providing avionics. "They are moving forwards and bringing in the resources. When this gets going it will really get going," said Philippe Petitcolin, head of French engine firm Snecma. Key to the project's success or failure, according to analysts, is Italian firm Alenia Aeronautica, which took a 25 percent stake in Sukhoi's civil division. Its task is to coordinate after-sales service, seen as crucial for winning airline contracts. Asked whether Sukhoi might open its civil subsidiary to other investors or a stock market flotation, Pogosyan said: "Everything is possible." Sep 26, 2007

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