Tuesday, October 30, 2012

MiG and Sukhoi have signed a cooperation agreement in the network of development of UAVs

Russian aircraft corporations MiG and Sukhoi have signed a cooperation agreement in the network of development of UAVs, Lenta.ru reports.
According to CEO of RAC MiG, Sergey Korotkov, the corporation will take part in the project launched by Sukhoi after winning the corresponding tender. Russian Ministry of Defense selected Sukhoi as the developer of heavy attack UAV in July 2012. The possible specifications of this UAV have not been unveiled yet.
Sokol and Transas have also started co-development of an attack UAV. However, this refers to medium UAV with a takeoff weight of about 5 tons. Some sources believe that the UAV developed by Sokol and Transas is a surveillance one. In addition, Sokol and Transas are also developing a UAV with a takeoff weight of 1 ton. The total amount of financing for these projects is assessed at 3 billion rubles.
As reported by a source close to RAC MiG, the company told about significant increase of share of composites in the fuselage structure of MiG-29 fighters (from 2-3% to 10-12%). In particular, half of the jet’s external surface area is made of composites. The composites help decrease the aircraft’s weight and increase the airframe’s corrosion resistance and stiffness.

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