The Russian state company Rostec intends to unify the Sukhoi and Mikoyan design offices into a single aircraft development company, headquartered in Moscow. In this way, the legendary manufacturers will cease to exist as independent companies.
The new company will be called Corporate Aircraft Manufacturing Center and will also become the istrative organization of Tupolev, Ilyushin and Irkut, a Rostec statement said.
According to Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostec, the reforms are aimed at meeting the country's needs for modern aircraft for air transport purposes, as well as increasing the competitiveness of domestic civil aircraft.
“We are forming in Moscow a unified management organization and a unified center of design competence for all UAC companies. Systemic reforms should improve the company's structure and resolve financial stability issues, increase the competitiveness of domestic civil aircraft, and cover Russia's significant needs for modern aircraft for enger transport,” said Sergei.
The announcement of the merger came on March 16 after a meeting with leaders from Rostec and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a conglomerate that will also be part of the changes.
The reforms will be implemented over the years in stages, focusing only on the istrative areas, without affecting the engineering departments. The new changes will optimize employees, control debt and reduce non-production costs.
According to pravda.ru, UAC has more than 20 employees in Moscow alone, of which 15 are engineers and designers. The remaining 5000 are istrative employees.
Already Defense world points out that “Design schools will remain independent, receive new development opportunities as well as better working conditions.”
“Structural transformations aim to increase the use of production capacities and work productivity. The cumulative optimization effect of ongoing transformations should be up to 130 billion rubles ”, says the general director of the UAC, Yuri Slyusar.
Created in 2006, UAC is a conglomerate that brings together manufacturers Sukhoi, Mikoyan, Tupolev, Ilyushin, Beriev, Yakovlev and Irkut. In 2018 the company became part of Rostec following a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin that transferred more than 90% of UAC shares to Rostec.
