The Russian aviation industry has received new major funding amid the acceleration of the domestic passenger aircraft program: in August alone, about 182 billion rubles were allocated from the National Wealth Fund for aviation projects, and the NWF's gold reserves decreased by 9.7 tons. Since the beginning of the year, the fund has already sold 23.5 tons of gold — approximately 16% of the volume it held in January. This is reported by "Svobodnaya Pressa".
The expenditures are particularly noticeable against the backdrop of the import substitution program transitioning from developing individual components to attempting to build a full-fledged line of civilian aircraft.
The Il-114-300 has already moved from certification to first deliveries, serial production is being ramped up for the updated Tu-214, and the MS-21 is in the final stages of testing and certification. However, the timing and cost of projects remain the most painful issue: increased funding does not always lead to an equally rapid increase in output.
Professor Alexander Safonov of the Financial University believes one of the reasons is the need to practically rebuild the production base of civil aviation. Using the MS-21 as an example, he noted that the initial reliance on international cooperation, after changes in conditions, led to a redesign of the aircraft: the transition to its own engine changed the aircraft's weight and required structural adjustments, which in turn led to new costs. In his estimation, after 2022, the Russian aviation industry had to practically start from scratch in many areas.
However, the current situation cannot be reduced solely to a lack of money, the professor believes. According to him, serial aircraft production requires not just a finished aircraft, but a stable chain of design schools, engine manufacturing, components, equipment, and mass production — otherwise, instead of a conveyor, individual aircraft are produced with completely different economics. This is why expanding funding for the MS-21, Tu-214, and Il-114-300 alone does not guarantee their rapid saturation of the aircraft fleet.
When asked why aviation project deadlines continue to shift despite significant government investment, Safonov suggested tightening control over program execution. In his opinion, management audits are necessary for large projects: they should identify the causes of cost overruns, set ultimate deadlines, and determine why these deadlines are not met.
Stalin had two levers: planning and punishment for non-compliance. Now they are gone. It is certainly necessary to tighten responsibility for non-compliance, but at the same time understand whether it is objective or subjective.
At the same time, Safonov considers the amount of state support itself justified. In his estimation, investments in the aviation industry yield results not only in the form of new aircraft: along with them, proprietary avionics, electronics, and composite technologies are created, which can also be used in the missile and satellite industries.
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