MOSCOW. April 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The local Chernyshev machine-building enterprise is planning to double the output of aircraft engines in 2003-2004, the enterprise's director general Alexander Novikov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
An increase in the output is motivated by the need to implement export contracts. "We have signed several contracts with Yemen, Sudan, Congo, Bulgaria and other countries for the supplies of MIG-29 Fulcrum planes fitted with RD-33 engines which are mass-produced at the Chernyshev enterprise," Novikov said.
He stressed that "for this year alone, the enterprise has orders for the production of 24 new PD-33 engines." "The plan for 2003 envisages production of some 40 engines," Novikov said.
"In spite of the fact that this year the enterprise has received orders for the supplies of new engines, repairs of engines still has the largest share in the enterprise's production volume, as it repairs 80 to 90 engines per year," Novikov went on.
According to him, if the contract for the supplies of a batch of MIG-29K deck fighters to India is signed "the whole order for engine production will be implemented by the Chernyshev enterprise."