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Development of Russia's new light plane receives 1.3 billion rubles in funding

Russia will modernize the fleet of its “regional” planes - Yakovlev Yak-40 and Antonov An-2

© ITAR-TASS/Marina Lystseva

MOSCOW, December 10. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will modernize the fleet of its “regional” planes - Yakovlev Yak-40 and Antonov An-2, but the priority of the state program for the development of small aviation in the next two years will be research-and-development activity to create new aircraft for the local lines, RF Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said in an interview published by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper on Tuesday.

“Another trend is the development of a national principally new light plane. Funding for this purpose in 2013-2015 is 1.3 billion rubles,” Manturov said.

“We announced a tender on the research-and-development work for the creation of an advanced family of light planes. We expect to get a demonstrator under this project by the end of next year,” the minister said.

He also said that Rostec Corporation was implementing a project for the development aircraft with nine - 19 seats from composite materials jointly with Diamond Aircraft Industries, an Austrian-based manufacturer of general aviation aircraft and motor-gliders.

“From 2017 the state support focus will be shifted to aircraft certification and demand promotion issues. To this end, various subsidies to producers of aircraft for local and regional lines are planned,” Manturov said.

“Starting from 2021 it is necessary to launch the development of a new generation of smart aircraft for the national regional aviation,” he noted.

According to the minister, “to meet current local air transportation demand, the fleet of the Yak-40 planes and An-2 planes will be modernized.” In particular, “62 An-2 planes will be re-motorized.

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