Mig And Sukhoi To Join Forces

Russian leading airplane manufacturing companies MiG and Sukhoi recently indicated they are interested in Russian Vice Premier Boris Alyoshin's proposal to form a single national aircraft manufacturing company within the next two years.

"We take great interest in the idea of the unification of all Russian air forces into a single fist. This is a normal concept and in the perspective we are ready to participate in the formation of the single Russian air-holding," a Sukhoi corporation representative told a RIA Novosti correspondent.

RIA Novosti reported that official advised "before the assumed amalgamation, it is necessary to settle issues concerning the increase of volume of state defense order for military aircraft and to form suitable financial conditions for Russian civil airlines in order for them to buy Russian airplanes instead of used foreign aircraft."

According to the Sukhoi corporation representative however, before the formation of the single company could ever take place, it would also be necessary to define which factories would be dealing with production of military aircraft and which with the civil aircraft.

The MIG company representative noted in his turn that "if the government decides to form in the near future a single airplane manufacturing holding than MiG as a state enterprise will just simply abide with the decision, since there are no other options for the company." At the same time, he expressed hope that the MiG brand would be preserved in the future.

The single Russian airplane manufacturing company will be formed within the next two years, Boris Alyoshin disclosed in the course of his meeting with journalists on Tuesday. The company will unite all the leading Russian companies - Ilyushin, Tupolev, Mig, Sukhoi.

FMI: www.migavia.ru/eng, www.sukhoi.org/eng/home.htm