Russia's Direct Benefit from "Superjet" Production in India Revealed: Staying Competitive

Aviation Expert Panteleev: Russia Can Dilute Competitors' Share in the Global Civil Aviation Market

The localization of production of SJ-100 "Superjet" short-haul aircraft and components for it in India, which is being discussed with Indian partners, will benefit Russia, which will open a new market, increase the scale of its production of high-tech products, and receive a reliable supplier of components. This opinion was expressed in an interview with "Perviy Technicheskiy" by Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport agency, aviation expert.

Superjet 100 with SaM146 engines
Superjet 100 with SaM146 engines

He noted that Russia's ability to independently ensure the production of civil and military aircraft is something to be proud of, but creating new competitive products is always very expensive.

Even the richest country does not always have enough resources to create a competitive product. In many projects, it is more profitable for two, three, or more countries to invest, and each partner should specialize in what they are competent in.

India has a Make in India program, and our partners are striving to do more in their own country. It is logical to assume that we will not take the production of the most high-tech components abroad, but will give away simpler operations, such as machining parts, customization for the customer, and so on. Then India will receive workload for its industry, and we will retain know-how and added value for a number of critical components.
Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport agency

In turn, Russia will be able to receive component products for its aircraft from partner countries in the future. This will partially share market risks and partially free up its own production resources.

By creating a new alliance not with Europeans, but with India and other countries of the global South, we are improving the economics of projects and expanding the markets available for our products. It is critical for us to achieve sales volume.
Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport agency

At the same time, cooperation with India has another side to it: for objective reasons, Russia is currently unable to compete with the United States, Europe, and China in terms of investment in aircraft construction, Panteleev admitted.

Therefore, another tactic may be relevant for us. We cannot radically increase our market share through direct sales – let's try to dilute the share of leaders by transferring technologies and licenses to those who want to join the club of aircraft manufacturers. Maybe we won't earn as much as in the case of selling "Superjets", but if we close the Indian market for 100-seat aircraft from deliveries of competitors' products, this story already makes a certain sense.
Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport agency

The head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec), Vadim Badeha, reported on the work on organizing the production of the SSJ-100 aircraft in the republic. According to him, one of the goals of such cooperation is the supply of components produced in India to Russia.

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