Russia Aircraft Makers Seek Support
A primary target for U.S. spy satellites during the Cold War, this air base near Moscow attracted thousands of spectators who came to see Russia`s top-of-the-line jets at the Moscow International Air Show, which opened Tuesday.
President Vladimir Putin was the star guest, making a dramatic arrival in a helicopter at the base just 15 miles southeast of Moscow.
``Economic difficulties have taken their toll on the aviation industry, but despite that, our aircraft makers have found their niche in the global market,`` Putin said.
He walked briskly past a line of wide-bodied Tupolev airliners, sleek fighter jets and helicopter gunships, peering into their cockpits and listening to their designers` pleas for state support.
By the end of Putin`s three-hour inspection, the presidential entourage had grown into a colorful mixture of officials, journalists, curious children and security service snipers armed to the teeth.
Most Russian aircraft makers found themselves struggling for survival when generous government orders dried up after the 1991 Soviet collapse. In the decade that followed, the Russian air force has received just a handful of experimental new aircraft and has been short of fuel to train its pilots, while Russian airlines have abandoned domestic aircraft makers for Boeing and Airbus.
In a distraction from the funding problems, pilots from the air force`s acrobatic squadrons stole the show Tuesday, their Su-27s and MiG-29 fighters sweeping low over the base, making synchronized rolls and loops in an immaculate group performance.
The Sukhoi company has been virtually the single Russian aircraft maker to prosper since the Soviet collapse, selling large batches of Su-27 and Su-30 fighters to China and India in deals worth billions of dollars.
Another world-famous Russian manufacturer of fighter jets, the MiG compa…
Дальше »»»