Pese a\u00a0la intensidad de la Guerra en Ucrania\u00a0y los intentos de Rusia por da\u00f1ar la infraestructura y capacidades industriales de su oponente,\u00a0la empresa\u00a0estatal\u00a0Ivchenko Progress Design Bureau ha continuado con el desarrollo y producci\u00f3n de sistemas de propulsi\u00f3n y motores, para satisfacer las necesidades de las FFAA de ese pa\u00eds. Los ataques masivos de las fuerzas rusas, no han impedido que la empresa mantenga su actividad incluso en la localidad de Zaporitzia, donde se ubica una de sus plantas productivas. Otra de las plantas que fue objetivo de los ataques rusos, es\u00a0L\u2019viv State Aircraft Repair Plant, donde se producen motores del MIG-29 Mikoyan que opera la Fuerza A\u00e9rea de Ucrania. La empresa se present\u00f3 recientemente en el PAR\u00cdS Air Show para mostrar su continuidad y capacidad para sostener el esfuerzo b\u00e9lico. En esa oportunidad, ha firmado un acuerdo con la empresa aeroespacial Checa PBS, para la fabricaci\u00f3n de motores jet para ser empleados en misiles de crucero, misiles anti-buque y otros sistemas aut\u00f3nomos.<\/p>\n
PARIS AIR SHOW \u2014 Throughout the war in Ukraine, the country\u2019s Ivchenko\/Progress Design Bureau (OKB) has continued to develop propulsion systems for Kyiv\u2019s military, despite the ever-present threat of Russian attacks, including on the\u00a0city of Zaporizhzhiya<\/a>, where the organization is located.<\/p>\n The threat of a direct hit on the plant is not a theoretical one. Throughout the war other defense industrial facilities have found themselves in the Russian sights, like when the L\u2019viv State Aircraft Repair Plant, which is the most experienced and capable overhaul facility for the Mikoyan MiG-29 and other Russian-design aircraft in Ukraine Air Force inventory, was\u00a0struck near the outset<\/a>\u00a0of the war.<\/p>\n That means going to work every day comes with an unusual threat to workers\u2019 lives. But as the conflict continues, and for just a brief respite, company representatives managed to journey thousands of miles to the Paris Air Show last week, in part to advertise their work like every other defense firm there, but also to show the world they\u2019re still in the fight.<\/p>\n One company representative, whose name is being withheld for their safety, said the organization was there to not only \u201cshow the flag,\u201d but to \u201cdemonstrate that we are continuing to support the armed forces and keep the OKB functioning. All of us are part of the war effort even though we are not at the front.\u201d<\/p>\n Even getting to Paris wasn\u2019t exactly simple. OKB representatives who spoke to Breaking Defense at the Le Bourget aerodrome said they had made the journey to the expo only by transiting a neighboring country where air traffic is still in operation. The team also had to prepare documentation officially authorizing them to leave the country due to delegation members still being of military age.<\/p>\n No provisions could be made for actually bringing aeroengines to be put on display \u2014 not even models \u2014 and one delegation member explained, \u201dwe could only carry paper brochures and other easily transportable items.\u201d<\/p>\n Down To Business<\/strong><\/p>\n Beyond representing Ukraine\u2019s aerospace sector generally, Ivchenko was there to do business. On the first day of the show Ivchenko\u2019s General Director, Igor Kravchenko, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Czech aerospace firm PBS for the co-development of a new small jet engine. The design, designated AI-PBS-350, is intended for use in cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and other unmanned vehicle applications.<\/p>\n Developmental work and production will be carried out by the aeroengine division of the Czech company, Prvn\u00ed brn\u011bnsk\u00e1 stroj\u00edrna Velk\u00e1 B\u00edte\u0161, a. s., a well-known\u00a0global manufacturer of high-speed turbine designs for the aerospace, power and transport industries.<\/p>\n The AI-PBS-350 is close in performance to another Ukraine-built small, unmanned vehicle propulsion system, the MS-400 manufactured at the Motor Sich aeroengine production association that is also co-located with the Ivchenko\/Progress OKB. (Motor Sich also worked in collaboration with L\u2019viv State Aircraft Repair Plant, which came under Russian attack.) The new design the Ukraine firm will be developing with PBS is expected to produce slightly lower thrust than the MS-400 (765 pounds vs. 880 pounds), but at 112 pounds, its dry weight is also 65 pounds lighter than the older-model Motor Sich-built engine.<\/p>\n The new Ukraine-Czech engine has a design that company promotional materials describe as being optimized for \u201csingle-mission\u201d applications. Its primary application will be for a subsonic cruise missile design, several of which have been under development by Ukrainian defense enterprises. For example, Kyiv-based State Design Bureau (DKB) Luch designed the R-360 Neptune anti-ship missile that has been credited with the\u00a0sinking<\/a>\u00a0of the Russian Navy\u2019s Black Sea Fleet flagship the Moskva on 13 April 2022.<\/p>\n Ivchenko\/Progress also have a long history of cooperation with Czech industry. Kravchecnko told Breaking Defense that the companies have engaged in joint projects since 2006 and that \u201cthis new engine will fit well into the Czech company\u2019s already\u00a0extensive line<\/a>\u00a0of unmanned vehicle propulsion systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Other Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ukrainian aeroengine design bureau has previously demonstrated its capacity for innovation on more than one occasion. One example is how the afterburning variant of the AI-222-25 engine that is installed in the PRC-made Hongdu L-15 jet trainer was developed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no aeroengine company or propulsion design enterprise that helped us in developing an afterburner for our engine,\u201d said one Ivchenko representative. \u201cThis was something we did entirely on our own as we see a market for a more powerful-performing engine in this thrust class. But we realized no other company was going to step up and make it easier for us to compete with them by designing the afterburner for us.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is also in plans to make a fighter jet engine in the class of the GE F414 powerplant currently installed in the Boeing F\/A-18E\/F Super Hornet. This engine, the AI-9500F, would produce about a thousand pounds less thrust than the US design. The Ukrainian firm said it has yet to find a customer to cooperate in the prototype construction phase and the application to a lightweight fighter design.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world market currently has several [non-US] aircraft in final stages of development that require an engine with the performance of the US-made F414,\u201d said a Polish defence and aerospace industry analyst who spoke with Breaking Defense from Warsaw. \u201cThis is the kind of a product that could offer those manufacturers the power plant that they need, but its appeal is that it would come without the technology export constraints that of a US military system.\u201d<\/p>\n