Russian President Dmitry Medvedev criticized on Friday Russian aircraft makers for failing to provide competitive and electronically advanced planes.
“Clearly all our products need to be electronically based but not all our design bureaus are ready for this, which is a big and separate problem,” Medvedev told a session of the Russian aviation security council.
Medvedev said Russian planes should be competitive with their foreign rivals in terms of engine noise, fuel economy and flight distance.
“You need to work better instead of demanding money,” he said.
The Russian government announced on Thursday it was buying two Airbus jets from Europe and is building two Russian Ilyushin Il-96-300 airliners for the president.
Last year it was suggested that the Kremlin was looking at buying the new Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional airliners, which are currently undergoing certification. The company has received more than 100 orders from Russian airlines and around 200 in total.
The president called for bringing in new passenger aircraft, while National Security Council head Nikolai Patrushev said the focus would be on the provision of regional jets. “People should not be flying from one part of the country to another via Moscow,” he said.
A plan to develop the country’s aviation industry through 2020 is being drawn up and would be presented to the president, Patrushev said, adding that the development would occur in cooperation with foreign partners.
“We are not going to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
Medvedev said state support for the industry was possible, but only at the initial stages.
He added that new advanced models need to be designed and put into operation by means of innovative development of the aircraft building industry, encouraging design efforts and closer cooperation with traditional and new partners alike.
He also criticized the network of military aerodromes and said he had given instructions to build several large military aviation bases on strategically essential routes. He said they should be re-equipped, including with unmanned aircraft, in a bid to raise military potential of the current aviation groups.
GORKY, April 1 (RIA Novosti)