The Sukhoi Superjet 100 advanced regional airliner development programme pursued by Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) in cooperation with several foreign aircraft equipment and system suppliers has passed a few key milestones in autumn 2011. Firstly, October marked six months since the first production SSJ100 kicked off regular services with Armenian carrier Armavia on 21 April 2011. Secondly, Armavia’s new-type airliner cleared the 1,000-flying-hour milestone on scheduled services in the same month. A week later, on 16 October, Russia’s Aeroflot crossed the same threshold, having operated two SSJ100s by then (one of them entered passenger operations on 16 June 2011 and the other on 27 August 2011). By the end if November, the Superjets had performed a total of 1,500 commercial flights, having logged over 2,800 flying hours.

The Irkutsk Aviation Plant, a subsidiary of the Irkut Corporation, was visited by Malaysian Defence Minister Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on 16 November 2011. During the visit, Irkut President Alexey Fyodorov showed his guest the key divisions of the plant, where the Su-30MK and Yak-130 aircraft and Airbus A320 components are manufactured. “The purpose of my visit to Irkutsk is to see with my own eyes where the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s multirole combat aircraft are made”, Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said. “What I have seen here is impressive and mind-boggling. I am certain that the aircraft is facing a bright future. We also are discussing the feasibility of further programmes, and Malaysian companies are always willing to cooperate with Irkut in this sphere”.

The official trials of the Kamov Ka-52 multirole combat helicopter equipped with the Arbalet radar system (FH01) from the Phazotron-NIIR corporation were completed successfully in November 2011. In mid-November, the acceptance report recommending the Ka-52 with its FH01 radar system for full-scale production and service entry was signed. The first Ka-52 two-seat multirole combat helicopter prototype (side number 061) was made by the Kamov company as far back as 1997. The preliminary stage of its official test programme, which provided for assessment of its flight performance, was completed in 2003. Later on, the helicopter was upgraded, getting an improved avionics and an expanded guided weapons suite.

At this Dubai air show, the MiG corporation has unveiled its latest product – the unique 3D simulator allowing simulated piloting of up-to-date fighters of the MiG-29 type throughout their flight envelope with 3D visualisation. There are many simulators of advanced warplanes, used for training of aircrews. As a rule, they have a projection system, whose projectors generate lookup and lookdown imagery on a flat or spherical display. The current display visualisation techniques simulate the surrounding environment but lack the 3D visual effect. This hampers the pilot’s accurate ranging of the objects seen and estimation of their dimensions, which is very important for fulfilling several specific piloting tasks, e.g. formation flying, mid-air refuelling and traditional landing approach.

On 27 October 2011, the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Production Association named after S.P. Gorbunov (KAPO) witnessed the maiden flight of the new Tupolev Tu-204SUS special-purpose aircraft (RA-64522) built on order by the Russian Presidential Property Management Department. The aircraft was piloted by a crew led by KAPO test-pilot Alexey Ryabov. The aircraft carrying a “special communications centre” (SUS in Russian), is the fifth airliner out of the six special Tu-214 derivatives ordered by the Presidential Property Management Department.