Former Russian Air Force chief commander Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov
Photo: Vasily Deryugin
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Saturn Renews Battle with Salyut
The battle for the right to develop the engine for fifth-generation Russian fighter jets has heated up. Yesterday, the management of the Saturn scientific production association in Rybinsk announced that work on designing the engine has stopped and the Russian Defense Ministry is to blame for it. Saturn technical director and general designer Mikhail Kuzmenko stated that “The Defense Ministry announced a competition to create a fifth-generation engine and we participated in it, but no contract has been concluded.”
Kuzmenko went on to say that “changes that have taken place [in the Russian Air Force] inspire us.” He was referring to the replacement last week of Air Force Chief Commander Vladimir Mikhailov with Alexander Zelin. Mikhailov had lobbied for the engine design proposed by Saturn's competitor Salyut Moscow Heavy-Industry Production Enterprise.
Salyut general director Yury Eliseev told Kommersant that work there on a fifth-generation engine is proceeding on schedule. Furthermore, the engine Salyut is working on has a thrust of 15.3 tons, compared to Saturn's engine's 14.5-ton thrust. He expressed the opinion that the competition for the fifth-generation engine should be based on ready demonstration models. Saturn general director Yury Lastochkin told Kommersant that the company's 117 model engine is only the first step in development.
Experts estimate that preparations for production of the fifth-generation engine will cost about $10 billion, and $2-3 billion will go for the engine itself.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 17, 2007
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