Three workshops receive upgrades at Russian bomber manufacturer

MOSCOW — The sole Russian company that produces Tu-160M bombers has completed upgrades to three workshops, it announced June 24.

United Aircraft Corp., which owns Tupolev and the Kazan Aircraft Plant, said upgrades were done for preproduction, mechanical assembly and flight test centers.

The Kazan Aircraft Plant is the sole organization in Russia that produces Tu-160M bombers. It also upgrades Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 bombers.

The military-industrial organization KazGAP served as the design and construction lead for the facility modernizations. As part of a state program to further develop the domestic defense industry, KazGAP has since 2016 carried out work, valued at about 30 billion rubles (U.S. $340 million), to modernize 10 Kazan facilities, which is approximately three-quarters of the plant’s workshops.

The modernization effort was to be completed in 2020, but KazGAP experienced delays amid several dozen criminal cases brought against Kazan subcontractors, who were charged with fraud and embezzlement. The payment amount for the work was not modified, leaving it up to subcontractors to self-fund the remaining work.

Under a 2018 contract, the Defence Ministry is expected to receive 10 new Tu-160M bombers by 2027. So far, it has received three.

In 2019, due to financial problems , KazGAP was sold to the holding company Technodinamika, which is part of the Russian defense conglomerate Rostec. Modernization work at the plant followed.

To date, nine facilities, including the workshops of aggregate and final assembly, have received certificates of compliance and permits for commissioning. According to United Aircraft Corp., construction work related to the production of heat treatment and coating is 86% complete.

The expectation is that all the modernization work on order for the Kazan Aircraft Plant will be done this year. Meanwhile, a new upgrade project, worth more than 90 billion rubles, is set to begin to benefit the serial construction of the civil aircraft Tu-214.

Russia is currently engaging in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has used its bomber fleet to attack civilian areas and critical infrastructure.

Maxim Starchak is a Russia correspondent for Defense News. He previously worked as an editor for the Russian Defence Ministry and as an expert for the NATO Information Office in Moscow. He has covered Russian nuclear and defense issues for the Atlantic Council, the Center for European Policy Analysis, the Royal United Services Institute and more.

莫斯科——俄罗斯唯一一家生产图-160M轰炸机的公司于6月24日宣布，该公司已完成三个车间的升级改造。

拥有图波列夫飞机制造厂和喀山飞机制造厂的联合飞机公司表示，已对预生产中心、机械组装中心和飞行测试中心进行了升级。

喀山飞机制造厂是俄罗斯唯一一家生产图-160M轰炸机的机构，同时还负责图-22M3和图-160轰炸机的升级改造。

哈萨克斯坦国家石油公司（KazGAP）是该工厂现代化改造项目的设计和施工牵头单位。作为一项旨在进一步发展国内国防工业的国家计划的一部分，自2016年以来，KazGAP已开展了价值约300亿卢布（3.4亿美元）的现代化改造项目，改造了喀山工厂的10个设施，约占该厂车间总数的四分之三。

现代化改造工程原计划于2020年完工，但由于数十起针对喀山分包商的刑事案件（这些分包商被控欺诈和挪用公款），KazGAP的工程进度被迫延误。工程款项并未调整，剩余工程费用需由分包商自行承担。

根据2018年的一份合同，国防部预计将在2027年前接收10架新型图-160M轰炸机。到目前为止，已经接收了3架。

2019年，由于财务问题，KazGAP被出售给了俄罗斯国防集团Rostec旗下的控股公司Technodinamika。随后，该工厂进行了现代化改造。

截至目前，包括总装车间和总装车间在内的九个设施已获得合规证书和调试许可证。据联合飞机公司称，与热处理和涂层生产相关的建设工作已完成86%。

预计喀山飞机制造厂所有已订购的现代化改造工程将于今年完成。与此同时，一项价值超过900亿卢布的新升级项目即将启动，该项目将惠及图-214民用飞机的批量生产。

俄罗斯目前正在对乌克兰进行全面入侵，并已动用其轰炸机部队袭击平民区和关键基础设施。

马克西姆·斯塔恰克是《防务新闻》的俄罗斯特派记者。他曾任俄罗斯国防部编辑，也曾担任北约驻莫斯科新闻办公室专家。他还曾为大西洋理事会、欧洲政策分析中心、皇家联合军种研究所等机构报道俄罗斯核问题和国防问题。