AeroComposite, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), plans to launch a $80-100 million composite airframe production at the Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO), AeroComposite President Leonid Gaidansky said on Tuesday.
"We plan to establish a joint venture between AeroComposite and a foreign partner as part of an agreement on the construction of a plant to produce composite airframes for future commercial aircraft. We'll probably launch export programs for the largest foreign producers, too," Gaidansky said, adding that the agreement could help develop Russian composite technologies and raise them to an international standards.
The new company would be registered in September or October, he said.
"The tentative launch date is late 2012 - early 2013. We are planning to reach the design capacity in 2016-2017," Gaidansky said.
The plant will produce composite airframes for Sukhoi Superjet 100 and ÌS-21 jets. The percentage of composites in the ÌS-21's airframe will reach about 30-40 percent, as in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, he said.
In July, Austrian light aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft held talks with KAPO over possible assembly of its composite structure light aircraft under license at the plant.
KAZAN, Aug 10 (RIA Novosti)
