OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2013. United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) president Mikhail Pogosyan announced the Russian aviation conglomerate’s order book has reached 25 billion Euros as its growth programme accelerates.

Mr Pogosyan revealed that UAC’s order book has reached more than 740 aircraft, with about one third formed by civil aircraft orders.

He also announced a 200 million Euro investment into composite aircraft production facilities for its Sukhoi Superjet 100 and MC-21 civil aircraft programs in UAC plants in Ulyanovsk and Kazan, east of Moscow.

He spoke as the UAC’s flagship civil aircraft, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100), debuted at the Paris Air Show alongside its Su-35 fighter jet in Russian Air Force colours.

The SSJ100 is present at the show in the colours of Mexico’s Interjet airline, and showing its new interior developed by Italian design bureaux Alenia Aemacchi and Pininfarina. The carrier has 20 of the aircraft on order, and is the first major Western airline to have selected the Superjet.

Commitments for the SSJ100 are continuing to grow following yesterday’s announcement that the Ilyushin Finance Co had signed Heads of Agreement for delivery of twenty of the aircraft.

As well as the world premiere of the Su-35C advanced multirole jet fighter, the latest Russian aviation programs, such as the Perspective Multirole Fighter, heavy cargo aircraft Il-76MD-90A, Multirole Transport Aircraft program and other new developments in various market segments are on display on UAC’s stand at the Air Show (Hall 2А, stand В197-198).

“Today we are at a new level – we are showing dynamic growth of 20 per cent a year and our civil aircraft production rates have tripled in the last year alone,” Mr Pogosyan told a press conference at the show.

“Our revenue has doubled in the last year to 4.5 billion Euros compared to 2007, and our target is to surpass 7.5 billion Euros by 2015.

“This year will see us producing 40 civil aircraft, and 70 military aircraft for Russia’s Ministry of Defence. By 2015, we expect our production rate to be totalling more than 200 aircraft a year.” This expansion puts UAC firmly on track to become one of the world’s top aircraft manufacturers.

UAC will continue to consolidate and streamline the companies brought together under its umbrella brand, with forthcoming consolidation seeing Tupolev and KAPO merging. In the military sector, as well as the re-organisation within Sukhoi, the NAZ Sokol and MiG will be merging.

“It has been a significant achievement for us to strengthen our position in the civil aviation market – we have proved we are not only about world-beating military aircraft,” Mr Pogosyan said.

“The first delivery within Mexico’s Interjet order for 20 Sukhoi Superjet 100s is a significant milestone for us. It means our aircraft will be seen flying to and from the USA, which is an important promotion for us in that market.

“We plan to become a leading player in the market and with our new technologies combined with our current development rate and well-balanced civil, military and transport sectors I am optimistic we will achieve that.”