Russia Lacks Aluminum and Steel Alloys of Required Quality for Aircraft Construction Development

It will take several years for suppliers of these materials to emerge within the country

This was stated at the AMTEXPO-2024 forum-exhibition by Anatoly Gaidansky, General Director of Aerocomposit (part of PJSC UAC within the Rostec State Corporation). Speaking at the plenary session "New Materials and Technologies as the Basis of Technological Sovereignty," he spoke about the problems and successes of import substitution in aircraft construction.

No one has set the task of building an aircraft within one country in recent decades. Over the long years of the open market, we have lost many suppliers and are now forced to cultivate them. This goal will be achieved within 2-3 years. When it comes to composites, the issue of their import substitution has been resolved, as we have been working on it since 2018. Composite materials used in civil and military aircraft construction, carbon fiber and fiberglass, have been replaced.
Anatoly Gaidansky, General Director of JSC Aerocomposit

He noted that sanctions in the case of composite materials helped the development of domestic designs and production, as the basic sectors of the economy and engineering school were already sufficiently developed for this. In Russian metallurgy, which is needed for the development of aircraft construction, things are much worse so far.

Now we are faced with the fact that the possibility of choosing the necessary structural materials is severely limited. For example, we do not have aluminum and steel alloys of the required quality. There are problems in some basic sectors of the economy, such as the bearing industry and the manufacture of machining equipment. They are being resolved extremely slowly.
Anatoly Gaidansky, General Director of JSC Aerocomposit

It is worth noting that, despite all the difficulties, seven priority projects of domestic aircraft are currently awaiting certification in Russia: MS-21, RRJ-95NEW-100 — import-substituted SJ-100, Il-114-300, Tu-214, LMS-901 "Baikal", TVRS-44, LMS-192 "Osvei". New types of domestic engines are also awaiting the end of certification: VK-800S, PD-8, VK-650V.

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