MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force will hold a competition among companies willing to repair D-30KP engines for IL-76 Candid military transport planes next year, Lieutenant General Viktor Denisov, commander of the Russian military transport aviation, said on Thursday.
"In 2004, we are planning to repair a large share of more than 600 dysfunctional D-30KP engines that are idling at airfields. This will be done through holding a competition and attracting off-budget funds," Denisov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
He recalled that repair plants located in Staraya Russa, Yeisk and Rybinsk are repairing engines of this type. "They are using budget funds to finance the work, but the funds are obviously insufficient. Using only these funds, we will not be able to maintain the current serviceability level," Denisov said.
According to him, "up to USD1m will be attracted" for repairing D-30KP engines in 2004, "which will make it possible to repair about 150 more engines."
The commander said that Russia has recently signed an agreement with Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant for medium repairs of D-18T engines for AN-124 Condor planes at the Russian airfield of Seshcha.
"By doing this, we lifted customs barriers and ruled out excessive spending of funds on transportation, which brought about a decrease in the repair period and in the cost of the work," Denisov said.
He noted that a new D-18T engine costs about USD2.5m. "The cost of 19 aircraft engines amounts to about USD47.5m. But we have repaired them for only USD140,000 and improved serviceability of our AN-124s," he said.