The Army will use Tu-134 and Tu-154 for another 10-15 years
The Russian Air Force will continue to operate the Tu-134 and Tu-154 veteran planes for at least another 10-15 years. This was announced by Air Force Commander Alexander Zelin. According to him, the same can be said about the An-26 and An-12 aircraft. In particular, A. Zelin noted: “We received the go-ahead from the General Staff and the Minister of Defense personally, we plan to carry out additional repair of these aircraft.
Squeaky aircraft, such as the Tupolev Tu-134 and the turboprop An-24, are relatively light aircraft. It is these models that can land on rather short and gravel runways in the Russian Arctic regions, where permafrost extends and in the tundra blown from all sides by the winds.
Today, quite a lot is said about the shortcomings of these aircraft and the need to replace them with more modern models as soon as possible aviation technicians. But some experts disagree with such statements. For example, here is what Oleg Panteleev, editor of the well-known aviation magazine Aviaport.ru, said on this occasion: “I do not know absolutely any production defects in Tu-134 and An-24 aircraft. I think sharp claims about 'obsolete fleet"- these are fictions."
Today in Russia it is planned to prohibit regular flights with old aircraft, and only allow charter flights for an indefinite period, only if a new airborne collision warning system is installed on these aircraft. The price of such a system is 200 thousand dollars. At about the same amount, Tu-134 is also valued for resale, as a result, Russian companies that provide air transportation services are forced to look for a way out to acquire Western analogues of domestic aircraft, but with an already installed collision warning system. A similar method in the Russian air to replace the domestic aircraft will come in service foreign models.
The only domestic aircraft that could actually be useful in this situation is the “Dry Superjet 100” (SSJ-100), which is the equivalent of the Tu-134. Due to the difficulties that arose after the collapse of the USSR, a noticeable decline occurred in the development of the aviation industry. So the national carrier company, which has in its fleet of 107 liners, owns only six aircraft manufactured in Russia, which were manufactured before the 1997 year.
In July, 2011, Vitaly Savelyev, president of Aeroflot, promised Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that “by the end of 2020, at least 40% of the fleet will be domestically produced”. But one article published in print media claims that the first Superjet aircraft owned by Aeroflot, spent more than half of its first month of service in hangars on the ground, due to difficulties with the air conditioning system, and thus already brings significant company losses.
The above-mentioned analyst O. Panteleev argues that the recent negative situation in the production of airplanes and the almost naked necessity may be a reason for Russia to extend the service life of the old Soviet models, regardless of whether D. Medvedev wants it or not. “In theory, Russia is able to realize the mass production of modern jet aircraft, which could well be replaced by both Antonov and Tupolev airliners on domestic and international regular flights,” said Oleg Panteleev. “Our problem is that the speed with which these aircraft are manufactured is extremely slow and is measured in units.”
Recall 23 June 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, after studying the situation on the aviation market, instructed the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation to analyze the need for and the possibility of decommissioning Tu-134 on domestic scheduled flights. “I instructed the ministry to begin preparations for the forced decommissioning of the Tu-134 from service as a whole today. It’s time to do it, ”the head of state said. Dmitry Medvedev believes that it is necessary to completely abandon the operation of this type of aircraft from 2012 onwards. He developed such a position in connection with the crash of the Tu-134 airliner when landing at 1 kilometer from Petrozavodsk airport close to midnight 20 in June of this year. Then, as a result of the crash, 47 citizens on the plane died.
In early July, 2011, Dmitry Medvedev also proposed to consider the possibility of decommissioning the An-24 aircraft. A similar reaction of the head of state was associated with the tragedy in the Tomsk region, where An-24 made an emergency landing on the water, as a result of which 7 people died, 30 were injured of varying degrees of severity.
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