Despite the fact that the production of the legendary “corn” (An-2 aircraft) ceased in 1980, they are still used in small aircraft. An upgraded version of the An-2 under the designation TVS-2MS with an American engine manufactured by Honeywell (TRE-331-12) was developed by the Siberian Aviation Research Institute named after S.A. Chaplygin (FAU “SibNIA”). The Rusaviaprom company assembles cars in Novosibirsk. In addition to the engine from the USA, the American Hartzell propeller is also used in the design.

After the US and EU imposed sanctions at the end of February, the supply of foreign components for the assembly of TVS-2MS became more difficult, and Rusaviaprom faced the risk of a complete shutdown of production. This is stated in a letter from the General Director of the enterprise Alexei Kryukov to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.

The company proposed to the government to reverse-engineer the American engine – to copy all the units and systems and create their analogue of Russian production, follows from the letter. The work will take three years, according to the company. Rusaviaprom asked the government for about 9 billion rubles for this project.

For the period while work on the engine is going on, Rusaviaprom offered to purchase 50 sets of American engines and propellers at the expense of the budget, but with their subsequent gradual purchase by the company and the return of money to the treasury. This will make it possible to assemble about 50 aircraft over the next five years, the company believes. The company estimated the purchase costs at $49 million (3 billion rubles).

They plan to develop a Russian analogue of the American engine using their own specialists. Rusaviaprom will submit an application to the Federal Air Transport Agency for certification as a developer, and will create its own design bureau.

The manufacturer also plans to completely replace the complex of obsolete on-board equipment with TVS-2MS in cooperation with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise GosNIIAS and the Ural Design Bureau Detal (part of the Corporation Tactical Missile Armament Corporation). It was decided to finance this development with the company’s own funds – the replacement of equipment will cost 17 million rubles per aircraft. Flight tests of the developments are planned to be carried out at the flight test complex being created at the enterprise: 24 people will work in it.

To date, Rusaviaprom has produced 24 TVS-2MS aircraft, 17 of them are in operation. These boards are used in the eastern part of the country for the transport of passengers and goods. In particular, TVS-2MS is in the parks of Kolyma Aviation (Magadan Region), Siberian Light Aviation (Siberia and the Far East), Aeroservice (Trans-Baikal Territory), Naryan-Mar United Aviation Squadron (Nenets Autonomous Okrug), ” Nimbus” (Novosibirsk region) and GAU “Aviabaza” (Amur region).

The aircraft is also used to extinguish fires, in medical aviation – mainly in remote areas of Yakutia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the Far East. In addition, according to Alexei Kryukov, deliveries to Indonesia (250 units) and Venezuela (30 units) are planned, but no contracts have been signed yet.

According to the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation, by 2030 transportation in Russia will require up to 600 new aircraft in the segment for 9-19 passenger seats to replace the “corn”. They could be assembled on the basis of the old An-2 gliders, which, according to various estimates, number 300-800 throughout the country.

Rusaviaprom believes that their aircraft is now practically indispensable – adjusted for the need to develop a Russian engine and propeller. But this, according to Alexei Kryukov, in any case will take less time than the creation of any other engine or aircraft from scratch.

For example, according to the alternative design of the Baikal aircraft, the development copy of the VK-800 engine, which is being created by the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA), will be ready by the end of this year , and the first prototypes will appear in March 2023. Until November 2024, UZGA must complete the development work on Baikal and prepare it for serial production – this period is specified in the tender documentation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which ordered the project.

Experts believe that at the stage of “reproduction” of the American engine, Rusaviaprom will face two serious problems. First , to receive the requested funding, you need to have a serious order for hundreds of aircraft, and contracts with Indonesia and Venezuela have not been signed. The second is the ability of the enterprise to reproduce materials processing technologies, for example, the “recipe” for applying a protective coating to the elements of the hot part of the engine.

“These technologies affect the life of the engine – it will work for a hundred hours or a thousand. And it is quite difficult to “reveal” these know-how, simply by analyzing the materials. Therefore, there are serious difficulties on the way of reverse engineering in the field of engine building. The question is whether we will be able to do this promptly , ”Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport agency.