An-148 entered service in 2009. "Russia is our main, strategic partner in this program," asserted the then head of the Antonov firm Dmitry Semyonovich Kiva. The sales market was estimated by him in 590 cars until 2020, including 280 in the CIS countries. In fact, today only a small part of effective demand for regional-class aircraft of the new generation is provided with commodity products. But there is still a market for military transport modification (An-178) - an additional 400 units. In a word, there was a lot of work, and it would be more than enough for not only the leading aircraft factories of the two once friendly states ... if not for the discord that happened between them in 2014.

An-148 - an excellent aircraft, largely ahead of its time. 87 computers and 58 digital systems are installed on board the machine, more than 35 thousand information connections are established, more than 4 thousand various parameters are monitored. "One hundred and forty-eighth" was the first passenger liner developed in the territory of the former Soviet Union in the digital environment (and the second in the world after Boeing 777). Designers OKB named after Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov "drew" more than 164 thousand 3D-models. Performing drawings in the systems Parametric CADDS'5 v12.0 and Optegra 6.0, they used three hundred newest at that time workstations Hewlett Packard HP C3000 and HP C3600 Visualize. In order to speed up the process of issuing the design documentation An-148, computer classes functioned in two shifts. In addition, Antonov used another fifteen thousand personal computers based on Intel Pentium processors.

By providing engineering and consulting services to foreign customers, as well as transportation of large-sized cargoes of the super-heavy An-124 and An-225 aviation enterprises as part of the design bureau, OK. Antonova managed to earn enough money in hard currency. They went on updating the jobs that were equipped with the latest technology. Many other enterprises of the Ukrainian aviation industry were "stuck" in the technological way of the eighties of the last century. Therefore, General Designer Petr Vasilyevich Balabuev decided to attract only those who met modern requirements to the project, and distributed the rest of the work among foreign enterprises, trying to ensure the maximum competitiveness of the prospective aircraft.

As of 2010, the following countries (enterprises) participated in the An-148 program: Azerbaijan (1), United Kingdom (4), Germany (9), Belarus (2), Italy (1), Kazakhstan (2), Canada (2), the Netherlands (3), Russia (160), the United States (16), Uzbekistan (1), Ukraine (34), France (5) and Switzerland (1). A total of 241 companies from fourteen countries.

Later, when work began on the military transport An-178 with a payload of 15 tons, the distribution of the required volume of work was to be distributed between Ukraine (41%) and Russia (53%). The production cooperation actually repeated the same for the An-148, as both models belonged to the same family and had high unification (85% on the wing and tail, 90% powerplant, 80% on the aircraft and 80% on general aircraft systems).

Distribution of roles

Russian participants in the An-148 project are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk, Ufa, Omsk, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Tomilino, Derbent, Arzamas, Kamensk-Uralsky, Ramenskoye and other settlements. Works on marching and auxiliary power plants are performed by Salyut, UMPO, NPO Fuel Equipment, Tekhpribor, life support systems - Nauka, Interhavia, Heat Exchanger, Respirator, Zvezda, passenger cabin - Volna and VABS, chassis - Hydromash and Yaroslavl Tire Factory, control systems - MIEA. And the largest number of Russian enterprises are involved in on-board radio electronic equipment: UCBP, Utes, MIEA, Aviapribor, Aeropribor-Voskhod, NIIKTP, SKBCHM, VNIIRA-Navigator, Pribor, Spectr, Avia, UPKB-Detail, Ramenskoye PKB, Volna, Polet, Factory named by Petrovsky,LES and others. A state-of-the-art simulator for pilots with a mobility system was designed and built by the St. Petersburg Transas.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union on the territory of Ukraine there were two major aircraft manufacturing plants - in Kiev and Kharkov. According to the idea of ​​Antonov's management, the An-148 project was to help unite them into a single production complex built on a modern principle. In fact, it was about the gradual transformation of the Kharkov plant KSAMC from the finalist into a supplier of assemblies and assemblies for Kiev Aviant, which in future would become the only supplier of finished products. Practical implementation of the idea was difficult due to the lack of funds for modernization and resistance of the directors of KSAMC, who tried to keep the assembly line of the previously created An-74 and An-140 aircraft at the plant.

As for Aviant, at the end of the last century, continuing to assemble the turboprop An-32 (the last cars left for Ukrainian state structures and the Air Force of Iraq), they were preparing for the serial production of the next-generation AN-70 military transport aircraft. Once upon a time, they built an initial batch of Ruslanov (then An-124 mastered the Ulyanovsk Aviastar) and the unique super-heavy An-225 Mriya. However, at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century Aviant practically functioned in pilot production mode under the Antonov state enterprise programs, and it was not possible to enter the serial construction of the An-70 due to lack of financing.

An attempt to resume the practice if not a full-scale, then at least a small-scale production of aircraft was made at the beginning of this century on the basis of the program of the new generation aircraft An-148. The size of the car was chosen in such a way that on its basis to create a wide family of aircraft - passenger, cargo, military transport and special purpose - which would increase the seriality by summing up the demand for each of the components.

At the same time, the low productivity of the Ukrainian aircraft factories forced the ODB management to limit their ambitions to the "regional sector": the maximum take-off weight of the family aircraft varied between 35-60 tons. The fear that the organization of the issue of larger aircraft would again "bump into" the problem of too much labor and cost, which can not be "pulled" in real "post-Soviet" economic conditions, prevented the "bigger" fear.

Flight tests on two AN-148 prototypes showed that the vehicle was technically purely technical: experienced aircraft demonstrated high performance characteristics. They allowed us to hope for the profitable nature of the future serial production of Russian and Ukrainian airlines, even in conditions of open competition with the products of the Canadian company Bombardier and the Brazilian Embraer. At the same time, the base An-148-100 and extended An-148-200 (An-158) showed fuel consumption at the level (and even slightly better) than the CRJ-900/1000 and ERJ-175/190, Landing capabilities (especially in the field of flights from unpaved, snow-covered airfields, etc.). Taking into account the latter circumstance, the An-148/158 received an important advantage from the point of view of exploitation in the post-Soviet space, and especially in Russia, which allowed us to hope for increased interest from Russian operators.

Licensed issue in Russia

At the turn of the century, the highest political leadership of both Russia and Ukraine expressed interest in organizing mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of aircraft construction on the basis of traditional ties that developed during the times of the USSR. True, the Kremlin was gradually realizing that due to the growing contradictions, both with the West and with the "nationalist" movement gaining popularity in Ukraine, it is worthwhile to focus on military issues on its own enterprises and on the Ukrainian transfer from military to civilian. To illustrate Moscow's approach, it is possible, using the example of a conscious choice in favor of modernizing the strategic military transport Il-76, despite the availability at that time of a more technically advanced joint development - the AN-70, though not yet completed in tactical and technical indicators Ministry of Defense.

To preserve mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries was possible through the joint production of An-148. Actually, Vladimir Putin openly stated this at his first meeting with Yulia Tymoshenko on March 19, 2005 in Kiev. That is, Russia was ready to maintain and develop cooperation with Ukraine in the production of high-tech products and, notice, this was announced by the president only four months after the Orange Revolution.

In addition to the final assembly line at Avianta, a second interdepartmental solution was created at the Voronezh Aircraft Building Society (VABS). Note that the development of the An-148 promised to increase the loading of the enterprise, to save jobs, and to help the plant employees with mastering new technological processes, which brought a very advanced Ukrainian project to the enterprise. For example, Voronezhs paid much attention to the manufacture of glider parts made of composite materials using domestic resins and technologies. Subsequently, the technology tested on the An-148 was useful in mastering the production of a close-sized military transport aircraft Il-112V, the active development of which began on the Ilyushin company at the end of the last decade.

Serious resistance to the Russian-Ukrainian project was exerted by the then management of the Sukhoi Company and their numerous supporters in power who promoted their own development - the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 (SSJ 100), also known by the original name of the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ). Technically, it was impossible to combine the Sukhov and Antonov projects. Therefore, supporters of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation tried to "dilute" them to a "safe distance", in part and by increasing the capacity of the main modification of RRJ - rejection of variants RRJ 60 and RRJ 75 in favor of RRJ 100.

While fully supporting the SSJ 100, the Kremlin "stood up" for the An-148 only at the most critical moments. In fact, the top political leadership pursued a policy of maintaining "healthy competition" between the two teams of designers and associated aviation plants and financial institutions. It was believed that maintaining a competitive environment encourages Moscow and Kiev designers to work better for the development of traditional schools of domestic aircraft construction.

Production in Voronezh

The first An-148 of the Russian assembly took off four and a half years after the start of the flight tests of the Ukrainian prototype. The ceremony of transferring RA-61701 aircraft to Rossia airline was visited by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Borisovich Ivanov. Flights with passengers on board on the route St. Petersburg - Moscow were carried out from December 24, 2009. Visiting VABS on January 18, 2010, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin inspected the next serial An-148. Then the media published pictures in the cockpit of the aircraft: the place of the commander of the aircraft was occupied by Putin, the second pilot - the president of the United Aircraft Corporation Alexei Innokentevich Fedorov. Undoubtedly, the top leadership of the country then perceived this project as a matter of pride and an indicator of the development of Russian-Ukrainian production ties.

Currently, Russian airlines operate about ten AN-148 and another eighteen - the Special flight squad Russia, the Ministry of Defense and Emergencies. An-148 of the Russian assembly is operated by the airlines Angara and Saratov Airlines; Continues the transfer of previously operated by the airline Russia aircraft to other operators. During this time, the competitiveness of the aircraft on the market was improved thanks to the recomposition of the passenger compartment with an increase in the number of seats from 75 to 80. Government structures use passenger versions of the aircraft, equipped according to their specifics. Several cars of the Kiev assembly fly in Ukraine and North Korea. In addition, six long An-158 (the original designation An-148-200) operate flights with the Cubana airline Cubana. They were ordered and delivered to Cuba by Ilyushin Finance Co. Voronezh leasing company . On loan, using the credit resources of Russian banks under the sovereign guarantees of the acquiring country.

And now, according to the information coming from Voronezh, starting from the next year the production line An-148 there can be mothballed. First of all, this is due to the complexity of manning the newly constructed aircraft due to the sharp deterioration of Russian-Ukrainian relations. In particular, with regard to our country, the Kiev regime introduced unilateral economic sanctions. In addition, there is a ban on the sale by Ukrainian enterprises of components for equipment, which is purchased by Russian state customers.

It should be noted that the disruptions in the delivery of components of Ukrainian production were noted from the very beginning of the An-148 production in Voronezh. The coup d'état of 2013 only aggravated the situation. A particularly acute problem arose with chassis racks produced by the Ukrainian company Yuzhmash. I had to urgently master their graduation in Nizhny Novgorod.

Separate embargoed components could be replaced with parts of Russian production, which allowed supporting the production of aircraft technology up to the present time, even below the original plan. It is expected that after completion of the next pair of aircraft this year, a decision will be made about the expediency of continuing production of the An-148 at the VABS. The opinion is expressed that, at the current level of relations with Ukraine, we will better focus on Russian developments and international projects with countries that, for the sake of political populism, do not practice methods of abandoning mutually beneficial projects to the detriment of their own high-tech industry.

Meanwhile, the needs of operating organizations in the An-148 and An-158 are not completely satisfied. In particular, an additional number of vehicles are ready to acquire Russian government structures, as well as those of third countries (in particular, North Korea) to which Western aircraft are unavailable. According to reports of official representatives of the law enforcement agencies, purchases of aircraft of this family are being considered in the drafting of the new State Armaments Program for the period 2018 - 2025.

Military transport An-178

The An-148 family includes an extended version - An-158, as well as an AN-168 version for business aviation and an AN-178 ramp for military transport. Tests last conducted since 2015, moreover, an experienced car exhibited at aerospace salons Dubai Airshow 2015, Le Bourget (France, 2015), Farnborough (Great Britain, 2016).

The Azerbaijani airline Silk Way Airlines issued a firm contract to the Antonov state enterprise for ten An-178 civilian. In addition, preliminary agreements on the machine have been signed with several Chinese and Arab customers, including joint production of marketable products. According to the developer, about two hundred companies from fourteen countries are involved in production cooperation under this program (we recall that about AN-148 it was spoken about 241 firms of all the same fourteen countries of the world, and the share of Ukrainian and Russian exceeded 90%).

That is, without Russian participation, the production of An-178 anywhere outside of Ukraine is impossible, since the basic An-148 was originally created as a cooperation project between our two countries. It seems that the best solution for all will be the restoration of relations between Ukraine and Russia to the previous high level that existed before the well-known events of 2013-2014. But there is almost no hope for such an outcome.

Putting the dots over "i"

In concluding the article we will try to explain the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the strategic areas of the economy which, of course, is the production of military and civil aircraft equipment, which is understandable for ordinary people without extensive knowledge in the field of aviation and far from politics. As noted above, the Kiev regime introduced unilateral sanctions in relation to our country, including a ban on Ukrainian companies to supply components for equipment purchased by government agencies. As for deliveries under commercial contracts, there is no such ban as such. This provision allowed to continue the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement to equip the Cubana de Aviacion with An-158 aircraft of the Ukrainian assembly using the financial resources of the Russian Federation through the Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company. Accordingly, the Russian road transporters shipped all necessary for the completion of the construction to Aviant Aircraft for the pilots of the Liberty Island.

At the same time, Ukrainian politicians and nationalist movements are increasingly raising the question of stopping all cooperation with the Russian Federation, including the refusal to buy Russian materials and components. The mere fact of having such a threat frightened virtually all potential customers. Very few people want, having bought the plane, at any time to remain without spare parts and technical support. Applicable to Antonov and Aviant, the acceptance of the demands of nationalists threatens to break the existing production cooperation, which will make it impossible to further produce AN-148 aircraft either in Russia or in Ukraine. Recall that of the 241 suppliers under this program, 160 are Russian. So far, the Kiev regime has not made the appropriate decision, and the construction of the next An-148 family winged aircraft at the VABS plant continues. Moreover, at the stage of practical implementation there is the issue of continuing the construction of the An-158 for Cuba, as well as the implementation of the recently placed order of the Iraqi airline.

When the former Prime Minister of Ukraine said his famous phrase "This flight we can not do ourselves", apparently, he meant the impossibility of serial construction of commercial copies of An-148/158/168/178 with a complete refusal to import materials, Components and technologies of foreign countries. The key word here is "ourselves", in which the current politicians of Ukraine sometimes invests a special meaning that is completely understandable only to themselves.