MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force cannot acquire the new AN-70 military transport aircraft due to money shortage, CEO of Ukrainian aircraft engine producer Motor Sich Vyacheslav Boguslayev has said.
"As to the position of the Russian Air Force, it is quite well justified by commander Mikhailov's (Colonel General Vladimir Mikhailov is the Russian Air Force commander - Interfax-AVN) restricted resources which are definitely not enough for such a perfect and expensive aircraft. Thus, his position on the AN-70 is quite understood and justified. The acquisition will certainly come on the agenda when we finish the aircraft and all of us get a little richer," Boguslayev said in an interview with the Vedomosti daily, published on Wednesday.
Mikhilov earlier told Interfax-Military News Agency that the D-27 engine powering the AN-70 was not sufficiently reliable.
Boguslayev denied Russian reservations about the engine (the D-27 is developed by Progress Design Bureau, Ukraine).
"This is a revolutionary engine. The lifting force of the turbofan is by factor of 2 to 2.5 greater than that of conventional engines, and the fuel efficiency of a conventional one is 510 grams per tonne-kilometer, while here 190, the same gain of 2 to 2.5," he added.
He said that the engine would take a lot of time and money to finish.
"A full cycle of tests will consume nine to 11 engines. We have only five, another four were lost in the crash of 1995 (the first experimental AN-70 collided with an accompanying plane - Interfax-AVN). Neither Russian nor Ukrainian Air Force have since then funded production of another five engines needed for bench tests," Boguslayev said.
He added that tests that should be made on the bench have been transferred to a live aircraft.
The Motor Sich CEO also said that the engine, nevertheless, is a good technical challenge and has tremendous prospects, and it would be finished within one to two years whatever the position of the Russian Air Force, because the AN-70 is not the only program the D-27 can be applied in.