Ukrainian aircraft engines might soon find their way into NATO hardware. Local Zaporizhya-based jet engine builder Motor Sich announced on May 16 that it established a working group with a leading Polish helicopter manufacturer PZL Swidnik in anticipation of joint production of helicopters that would involve Ukrainian engines.
With Russian-Ukrainian relations at an all-time low which led to
Ukrainian government’s decision to stop selling arms to Russia on March 29 and
ban all military ties on June 17, the move would diversify the company’s client
base. Currently, Russia is the final destination of 30 percent of Motor Sichs’s
output, though it used to purchase half of the company’s production in previous
years.
Specifically, Motor Sich has since 2011 been looking for a partner to
use the state-of-the-art MC-500B jet engine when a joint venture with Russian
Helicopters collapsed after the Russian side decided to go with a Canadian
Pratt & Whitney engine for its Ansat light helicopter.
According to Motor Sich, the Polish plans are for the company to put its
motors in the Mi-2 and Sokol helicopters produced by Swidnik, which are used by
the Polish armed forces. The Mi-2 is a heavily armed and armored transport
helicopter that also goes by the NATO reporting name Hoplite.
Should this plan come to fruition, the company anticipates long-term
contracts to modernize other Soviet-era helicopters for service in former
Warsaw Pact countries, including the Mi-8, the workhorse of the Ukrainian armed
forces and main air transport for its counterterrorism operation against
Russian mercenaries holed up in southeastern Ukraine.
“This [Swidnik cooperation] is an opportunity to more directly negotiate
with Polish colleagues against a background of warming relations with Ukraine,”
says Oleksiy Andriychenko, an analyst at Art Capital.
The MC-500B jet engine is an important project for Motor Sich, he
explains, because it was developed by its own engineers, unlike other
helicopter engines. For other Motor Sich engines, like the TV3-117, D-436-148,
D-436TP, AI-222-25, and D-136, cooperation with Russia continues, the analyst
added.
Europe might also be interested in the upgraded TV3-117 for the Mi-8,
says Andriychenko. Other Motor Sich engines are not used in Europe. The company
would be better served by focusing on its fastest growing market, Central and
Southeast Asia, which buys Motor Sich engines and modernization packages.
Cooperation
with Russia
So far, Motor Sich’s president Vyacheslav Bohuslaev denies that it
experienced any losses from the war between Ukraine and Russia. Moreover, the company
does not expect any losses in the future since, according to its spokesperson
Anatoliy Malysh, none of its Russia-bound hardware is military related. Engines
may be used for both – military and civil helicopters.
Noteworthy is that 80 percent of Motor Sich’s key product – helicopter
engines –end up being sold to Russia whose production of Mi-8 helicopters is exclusively
reliant on Ukrainian supplies, while Motor Sich imports 50 percent of the parts
for the engines from Russia.
Having skin in the game, Bohuslaev sees his company’s joint production
of An-148 planes together with Russia of having a future. Previously, Ukraine
and Russia had plans to produce 150 planes of this type worth $4.5 billion. Both
countries are also involved in projects to build An-70, An-124, and An-124
planes.
In fact, Bohuslayev has declared that he does not intend to abandon
cooperation with anyone. “We are not leaving any markets and we are not
switching to any markets,” he said. “We are fighting for every unit of sale. We
need to win new markets. We try to secure those markets where we are trusted
and well known. Not Russia, China or Sudan will cease to be our markets.”
The list of Ukrainian engine producer’s Russian partners includes such
giants as Ilyushin, Yakovlev, and Russian Helicopters. Motor Sich’s Malysh
admitted that for “many years” the Russian government has been funding new
factories to build substitutes for the company’s products.
Motor Sich reported a full-year 2013 profit of $140 million, although
this was down 31 percent year-on-year. Bohuslayev blamed the decline in profit
on a large investment into helicopter engine development that went nowhere,
reported Delo business news website. Bohuslayev also reported that the
company’s turnover in 2013 was $1 billion and that he is expecting the same figure
this year.
Kyiv Post
business journalist Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at [email protected].
