Rybinsk Motors, JSC

OKB-36
Rybinsk Engine-Building Design Bureau
152903 Rybinsk
Yaroslavl region, Russia
Tel: (0855) 243-100
Fax: (0855) 262-398

FLIGHT International, 7 January 1978, reported only that "This little known bureau was reported to be developing an advanced variable-cycle turbofan/turbojet to replace the Kuznetsov NK-144 turbofan powering the Tupolev Tu-144 SST and Backfire bomber." A classified 1984 CIA analysis of the Tu-144 SST prepared in 1984 noted that "The most basic problem - thirsty engines — remained. Reports had filtered out during the 1970s of new engines for the TU 144, possibly turbojets on the lines of the Concorde with smaller inlets and nacelles. This suggestion seems not to have been developed. By the mid-1970s, reports came out of a "variable geometry, variable by-pass ratio" engine under development by the otherwise obscure Koliesov Design Bureau. This engine was said to function as a turbojet subsonically and as a turbofan supersonically, providing optimum efficiency in both regimes."

By the end of the Cold War, western intelligence knew that the Koliesov Design Bureau had developed liftjets and a large turbojet. The Koliesov Design Bureau, which may have succeeded the Dobrynin Design Bureau in the late 1950s, first became known when it developed a large variable geometry engine for the Tu-144D CHARGER supersonic transport (30:704). This design bureau, called the Rybinsk Design Bureau at the Aeroengine '90 Exhibition, is responsible for the small RD-35-35FVR turbojets which give the Yak-38 naval fighter its vertical lift.

In 2001 the merger of Rybinsk Motors JSC and A.Lyulka-Saturn JSC formed NPO Saturn JSC. Rybinsk Motors JSC was a diversified joint stock company. Rybinsk Motors JSC is a diversified engine manufacturing company. The company features a developed infrastructure, mature power generating and transportation facilities and retains centralized management.

In 1997 Rybinsk Motors JSC merged with Rybinsk Engine-Building Design Bureau. Starting of gas-turbine engines production for power generation and gas industries. In 1998, in accordance with the RF Government order, the company became the prime manufacturer for development, production and overhaul of gas-turbine engines for unmanned air vehicles.

In 1999 Volzhsky Machine-Building Plant formed a part of Rybinsk Motors JSC. In June 2000, the Rybinskiye Motory annual shareholders' meeting replaced the company's management. Veniamin Mezhibovsky, the former director of Volzhsky Machine-building plant, became Rybinskiye Motory's executive director. Rosaviakosmos Management Chief Yury Dmitriyev became the state's representative on the Rybinskiye Motory board of directors.

It is situated in the city of Rybinsk, formerly Andropov, on the bank of the Volga River in the central part of Russia. The city of Rybinsk has a distinctive and interesting history. The town of Rybinsk had grown from a small settlement in the 11th centuries into Rybolovetsky Slobodka in the XVI-XVIII centuries, then turned into a large trade and shipment centre on the Upper Volga in the XIX century and has become a large highly developed industrial modern city. From the second half of the XIX century, the city of Rybinsk features an intensive growth of industry. In 1853, the Zhuravlevs merchants opened the rope-spinning yard, along with it grounding flour and shipbuilding production were developing rapidly.

In the pre-war period new large industrial plants producing aviation materiel, printing equipment and other machine-building production were built. In the autumn of 1942, the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station began to produce electricity for the first time which supplied besieged Moscow with electricity. At present a powerful system of locks connects the Volga with the largest reservoir in Europe from which one can pass through to the Baltic and White Seas.

In 1943, OKB-250, where Peter Alekseevich Kolesov worked, was transferred from there to Rybinsk to Plant No. 36 (now NPO Saturn ) and renamed OKB-36 (OKB by V. A. Dobrynin). Since 1952, the OKB-36 had been engaged in turbojet engines. In 1956 Kolesov headed the design department, and in 1959 he was appointed deputy chief designer. After the retirement of V.A.Dobrynin in 1961, Kolesov was appointed chief designer of the Rybinsk engine-building design bureau, which he managed until 1984.

For 70 years the key activity of the company has been the production of aircraft engines. The Rybinsk Motors engines power about 1100 aircraft of 160 airlines of Russia and foreign countries. More than 4500 aircraft engines are in operation now. The other company business directions are production of industrial power plants of large output, diesel engines and snowmobiles, special-purpose vehicles, equipment for nuclear power, non-standardized equipment and valves, as well as household and industrial appliances. Rybinsk Motors JSC has developed high-tech production facilities: stock shops, foundry, forging shops, tool production, machine, assembly, heat treatment, wood-working, electroplating shops, paint and varnishing shops, test cells.

Up-to-date design technologies are being mastered at the enterprise. They are the key to development of new-generation engineering. Quality and reliability of Rybinsk Motors products are quaranteed by new aviation technologies. General statements of quality system are certified to ISO 9000 International Standards. Close business cooperation between Russian aircraft engine manufacturers and a number of leading foreign companies has proved in action its mutual advantage and much promise. Highly-skilled staff is the objective of the Company in any activity: from top executives to engineers and shop floor workers.

In 1997 the enterprise was combined with Rybinsk Engine- Building Design Bureau, creating a solid base for achieving a more technically sophisticated production level. NPO Saturn has at its disposal the most powerful in Russia R&D basis for gas-turbine equipment development. All this has become possible thanks to incorporation of the leading Russian aircraft engine design schools within NPO Saturn, with intake of the most experienced Russian specialists. Experimental Design Bureau No.1 (Rybinsk) is engaged in defining general principles of the engineering policy of the Company and R&D directions, development of civil aircraft engines, and industrial gas-turbine engines.

Rybinsk Motors is a leading Russian manufacturer of aircraft engines. Rybinsk Motors supplies engines for nearly 60% of Russian middle- and long-range aircraft and for over 80% of military transport planes. Research centers on creating a low emission combustion chamber for Tu-154M in accordance to ICAO requirements, developing TVD-1500 (turboprop and gas turbine engine) for An-38 and T-701 "Grach", RD-600B for Ka-62 helicopter and DH-200 (diesel engine) for small aircraft.

The company produces by-pass turbojet D30KP (thrust rating up to 12,000 kgf), installed on? IL-76 aircraft and its modifications (civilian - IL-76T and IL-76TD; military - IL-76M and IL-76MD; special purpose aircraft -? zero-g flying simulator IL-76MDK; fire-fighting IL-76TP; refueler aircraft IL-78). The engine has undergone several modernizations during the years of exploitation. The A-40 multipurpose amphibian aircraft? designed to fight submarines in the nearest sea zone is equipped with two?? D-30KPV engines (D-30KP engine modification). The A-50 aircraft was developed from the IL-76MD; it is equipped with a radio-electronic system intended for long-range target detection, tracking and missile guidance. The specifications of this modification are compatible with the AWACS E3 Sentry American analog.

The factory has signed several large contracts for manufacture of ground oil and gas pumping stations. The sales in the nine months of 1997 exceeded 875 billion roubles (approximately. $146 million). In spite of the general depression, Rybinks Motors is busy with orders for the overhaul and manufacturing of engines and has direct support of Incombank and Gazprom. In 1997 the factory established a joint venture with General Electric to produce engines for small passenger aircraft and helicopters of T-7 type and LM-2500 for gas pumping stations.

Rybinsk Motors JSC is involved in continuous improvement of its engines' operating performance. To meet the requirements of an operator, the company is ready to perform certain measures during the repair improving the engine reliability, efficiency and operating performance. Provision of the electronic turbine rotor overspeed protection system which allows to eliminate the engine turbine overspeeding above the maximum permissible rpm and the turbine failure at disengagement of the shafts.

Provision of the closed drainage system which allows to eliminate fuel discharge to the atmosphere, and fuel return to the fuel system provides fuel economy (about 18.4 t per 5,000 h of operation); Equipping the D-30KU-154, D-30KU-2 engines with acoustic panels (sound-absorbing constructions) allows to reduce the noise level in compliance with international environmental protection standards. Thus, it is possible to carry out landing at any country of the world without penal sanctions; Equipping the D-30KU-154 engines with the thrust reverser whose doors have sloping ribs providing the reverse jet deflection from the fuselage which protects the engine inlet from foreign object ingestion and from gas impact on the fuselage.

Introduction of structural improvements on new engines and repaired ones allows to extend the D-30KU-154 assigned service life up to 15,000 h and the D-30KP-2 assigned service life up to 9,000 h; During its life cycle any engine purchased or repaired at Rybinsk Motors JSC is traced by the Operation and Maintenance Department. Specialists of the department carry out guarantee and post-guarantee repair of aircraft engines in operation as well as implement measures improving engine reliability and specified life between overhauls.

Rybinsk Motors, based some 400 km north of Moscow, was to manufacture the AL-41F, a fifth generation engine for military aircraft, and its derivatives for civil applications. The agreement was signed on 18 September 1998 by the manufacturer, Rybinsk Motors, the AL-41F developer, Lulka-Saturn, Defence Ministry and the administrations of Moscow City and Yaroslav region. It calls for prompt finishing of development and putting into production of the new engine for next-generation combat aircraft. Setting up a full-scale production line at can take from three to four years, requiring investments worth Rbs 2 billion. But in 2000, in accordance with the RF Government order, NPO Saturn became the prime manufacturer of the fifth-generation aircraft engines.