OREANDA-NEWS. On 26 February 2008 was announced, that on February 13-15, 2008 a series of meetings with the delegation of AVIC II headed by Mr. Zhang Hongbiao, President of AVIC II, took place at ANONOV ASTC. AVIC II is the biggest corporation including 54 industrial enterprises and 3 institutes of PRC which develop helicopters, airplanes, engines and aviation equipment. Long-term fruitful cooperation connects AVIC II with ANTONOV ASTC.

Since 2002 in accordance with the contract signed with Shaanxi Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., which is the part of AVIC II, ANTONOV has been participating in design of Y8F600 transport airplane. Within this project the ASTC designed and developed technology of manufacturing the wing of a new construction with tanks-caissons. Strength tests of the alloy intended for this wing production were also carried out. Several Y8F600 models for testing in a wind tunnel, including flatter one and that with the engines simulators were designed and produced in Kiev. The results of their testing were very useful for the process of the program. Models of wing panels made in China are tested in the laboratory of strengthen tests of ANTONOV ASTC.

Memorandum of understanding on establishing of the joint Aviation-Engineer Centre in Beijing was signed in September 2007. This enterprise will carry out scientific-research and design works on development of new airplanes and modernization of the existing ones, initialize and substantiate creation of new aircraft, design their general layout, conduct necessary preliminary researches. Among the tasks of top priority of the established centre are the works on further development of the Y8F600 transport program.

Establishment of this centre became a considerable step in development of business relations. Forming this joint structure, partners reached a new, higher level of cooperation. They join the efforts not within the frames of the program taken only, but for development and realization of the whole number of projects.

During the negotiations which took place at ANTONOV, Mr. Zhang Hongbiao and Mr. Dmytro Kyva, General Designer, discussed the process of jointly realized programs and possible directions of the further cooperation. Chinese party supported the initiative of the ASTC on involving other Ukrainian enterprises into the joint programs. In particular it is supposed that Ivchenko-Progress SE and Motor Sich JS will join the project of Y8F600 modernization . In order to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation the delegation of AVIC II plans to visit these Zaporozhye enterprises.