IRKUTSK, August 2 (Itar-Tass) - The Irkutsk Aviation Plant intends to increase in the coming years the volume of production of the Sukhoi Su-30 multifunctional fighters of various modifications, as well as the Yakovlev Yak-130 trainer planes for the Russian Air Force and foreign customers, President of Irkut Corporation Oleg Demchenko told journalists on Friday.
“The enterprise’s capacities allow the company to make about 35-40 Su planes and some 20-30 Yak-130 planes annually,” he said at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which was visited on Friday by RF Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov.
In particular, according to Demchenko, the existing assembly line can produce up to three Yak-130 planes per month, that is, up to 36 these aircraft per year.
Demchenko said that Irkut Corporation can increase by some 30 percent the number of the manufactured Su and Yak planes, compared to 2013 production volumes.
Alexander Veprev, Director General of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant that is part of Irkut Corporation, said for his part that in 2014 the plant plans to produce for Russian and foreign customers two times more Su planes than in 2013 and about 1.5 times more Yak-130 trainer planes. “More Yak-30 planes than this year will be delivered to the Russian Defence Ministry,” Veprev said.
Earlier on Friday, RF Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov said that in 2013, Irkut will deliver to the Russian Air Force 18 Yak-130 planes and 14 Su-30SM fighters.
The Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which is part of Irkut Corporation, is one of the leaders of the Russian aviation industry, Borisov stated. “It is, in my opinion, one of the best plants in terms of equipment, organisation of the production process, in terms of human resource structure and economic performance,” he said.
Borisov pointed out that he had earlier familiarised himself with the aircraft plants in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk and Samara and “has always wanted to visit Irkut.”
He said that the plant employs 12.5 key personnel. “The average output per person exceeds 3.5 million roubles. This is a very serious indicator. For the industry as a whole, it is probably the leader in this sphere,” Borisov said.