Uzbekistan's aviation industry booms
The only aircraft maker in ex-Soviet Central Asia has won a $150m
contract from India, giving one of the country's main industries a
big boost.
The Chkalov aviation plant in the Uzbek capital Tashkent is to
resume production of the Il-78 refuelling plane for the first time
in nearly a decade, the plant said on Monday.
Output from the communist-era plant severely wound down when the
Soviet Union and its massive defence industry collapsed in
1991.
The company also started production of the Il-114-100 in
conjunction with US engine maker Pratt & Whitney this year,
signing a contract to supply three to Singapore,
India and China.
Chkalov employs a workforce of 30,000 and is one of the largest
businesses in Uzbekistan.
Indian order
The Indian Defence Ministry ordered six of the Il-78s in October
and paid an advance of $23m.
This allowed work on the first plane to begin last week, company
officials told reporters.
Each plane will take about 18 months to build.
The plant said it could fulfil the Indian contract, even though its
machinery has sat idle for years and many employees have long since
found new jobs.
The Il-78 was first released in 1984 and designed as either a
refueller for long-range fighter jets or for fire fighting.
The Chkalov plant produced 45 of them before production stopped in
1991, all of which now serve the Russian or Ukrainian militaries -
except for one sold to Libya in 1986.
On show
The plane maker exhibited its aircraft at this year's Paris
international air show at Le Bourget, including many made years ago
like the Il-78.
It is also still producing the Il-76 cargo plane, wings for
Antanovs and is developing a cargo version of the Il-114 which is
currently undergoing airworthiness tests.
The government of President Islam Karimov, who is extremely
supportive of aviation, is the majority shareholder in the Chkalov
aviation plant with 25.6% in private hands.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1716939.stm
Personally i don't think Singapore will want to buy this plane but
then again TCH did visit Russia not too long ago and Uzbeckistan is
a close ally of Russia.
Further more news from BBC is quite reliable.
Maybe they want to get a cheap plane which is large enough to take
over the role of the Fokker-50, which have gone out of
production???
Il-114-100 pics:
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraftsearch=Ilyushin%20Il-114-100&distinct_entry=true