OKB Sukhoi History - Post Cold War
In 1991, the old management system collapsed, replaced by a planned economy "freeze market". Funding "defense" falls to almost zero. Due to the decline in revenues and non-rhythmic funding, the outflow of personnel begins in the OKB. The peak of this process occurs in 1992-94.
The country is undergoing reforms in the political, economic and legal spheres: a change of subordination, a change in the form of ownership, etc. The OKB is forced to “keep up” with the new economic realities, the status and the official name of the enterprise are changing: from March 12, 1992 the Ministry of Health Care named after BY. Sukhoi was renamed into the Aviation Scientific Industrial Complex (ANPK) “Sukhoi OKB”. In the same 1992, the privatization procedure began, which lasted a total of more than two years and ended with the registration of the Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) “Sukhoi Design Bureau” (since 2003 - JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau). In this connection, since 1995 the form of management has been changing at the enterprise. Now, according to the Charter, the fate of the OKB is decided by the meeting of shareholders, the first of which takes place in May 1995. It elects an executive body - the Board of Directors, and in its composition the General Director is then elected, the first to be held by M.P. Simonov.
As the head of the company, Mikhail Petrovich in those years was able to find the only right way out, making a bet on financing the OKB by exporting core products, first of all, Su-27 type machines. With the support of government agencies, subject to an appropriate permit, a contract was signed for the supply of aircraft to the PRC, which was a breakthrough in the state’s export policy, and similar agreements were subsequently concluded with a number of other states.
The existence of contracts of this kind has played its role - it allowed in the difficult 1990s to “survive” both the OKB and all cooperation related to the production of aircraft by the aircraft industry enterprises. Such a result was a completely logical outcome of the work of the bureau in the field of combat aviation. Su-27 was quite in demand on the global arms market.
The severity of the crisis, experienced by the enterprises of the defense industry of Russia, for the Sukhoi Design Bureau was smoothed out due to export contracts related to the sale of Su-27. The presence of these "additional" funds allowed the start of technical re-equipment of the enterprise. It was in the 90s that the OKB PCs began to be mass-equipped, which from now on became the main working tool of each designer in the enterprise. Money was spent on work on the main topics. So, despite the difficult economic situation, in the 90s, the design bureau built and came to the test:
- an experienced T10M-11 aircraft, equipped with prototypes of an engine with a deflected thrust vector (OWT) and a new avionics complex;
- experimental aircraft C-32 (C-37) with a backward swept wing;
- an experienced double ship training aircraft T10KUB-1 (Su-27KUB).
Work on the Su-80GP cargo-passenger aircraft and the Su-38L agricultural aircraft moved to the practical stage. It quickly became clear that the benefits of an exclusive position in the arms market would be ephemeral, if not made a constant effort to maintain the proper level of "goods". As a result, in the 90s, the design bureau began work on the creation of specialized aircraft variants based on the Su-27UB. At the same time, that backlog of work on the power plant, equipment and armaments, which was obtained during the design of the Su-27M, was actively used. Two new aircraft modifications were developed for the Indian and Chinese Air Forces. At the same time, as part of the “Indian” contract, a new multi-purpose aircraft Su-30MKI was created, in which: for the first time in world practice, they installed an engine with an OBE and a remote control system, in a single control loop with an OBE, which expanded the possibilities for implementing super maneuverability modes; and for the first time in practice, the OKB implemented the avionics complex, which successfully integrated the systems of domestic and imported production.
In 1999, MA Pogosyan was elected Director General of the Design Bureau. The new Director General began to implement the reform program, the emphasis of which was on creating a vertically integrated structure that carries out a full cycle of work on the creation of aviation technology, which would include, along with the design bureau, serial plants. M.A. In fact, Pogosyan was the first in the Russian aviation industry to implement this idea in practice, while the structure of the SUK AVPK Sukhoi (now JSC Sukhoi Company) was used as the head company. Personnel changes in the OKB almost coincided with the change in the political leadership of Russia that occurred at the turn of 1999/2000. Soon, changes for the better in the economic policy of the state became obvious: funding for a number of budget themes increased, work on new topics was launched. It was possible, finally, to intensify the T-10B (Su-34) state tests program, to expand the modernization of the existing Su-24, Su-25 and Su-27 aircraft fleet. The visit of the President of Russia V.V. Putin stressed the seriousness of change and gave a boost to positive processes.
Under the leadership of M.A. Pogosyan in the bureau was made a forecast for the future, according to which all further technical policy was built. Work has been launched in a number of new areas: the Su-35, as an integral modernization of the Su-27 fighter, a promising 5th generation fighter, the T-50.
On the other hand, in a number of “unprofitable” areas of work, we had to wind down; almost all civilian-related vehicles, such as the Su-38L and Su-80GP, fell into this category. The development of a regional passenger aircraft was recognized as a promising area, while, due to regime and legal restrictions, it was decided to single out work on it as a separate enterprise. To this end, in 2000, Sukhoi AVPK formed a subsidiary, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (GSS), where a full-scale RRJ design (SSJ-100) was soon launched. Many designers of the Sukhoi Design Bureau took an active part in this work.
Since 2007, I.Ya. Ozar, Technical Director - A.F. Barkovsky. In January 2013, in order to improve the efficiency of the enterprises that are part of the AHK, the Sukhoi Design Bureau directly became part of the company "Sukhoi". The official name of the company remained the same - “Sukhoi OKB”, but with a clarification: The branch of the “Company“ Sukhoi ” AF Barkovsky was appointed Director of the branch — Sukhoi Deputy General Director.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, the financing of the state defense order has significantly increased, which allowed the OKB to reorient the structure of the work performed. If in the previous decade export programs were the main source of income for the design bureau, then from now on this place was firmly occupied by work performed in the interests of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The basis was the program to create an airplane of the fifth generation T-50. Work on this topic began in the Design Bureau back in 1999, and the first prototype of the aircraft took off at a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in January 2010. To date, there are already 5 flight specimens of the T-50 on trial, and in 2014, the program of state tests begins. Negotiations are actively under way on a joint development with India of a promising multi-role fighter (PMI) based on the T-50.
Another important topic was the Su-35. Initially, this program was considered as export, intended to close the “gap” that was to emerge in the implementation of export deliveries of Su-27 type aircraft, but later it was decided to create a Su-35S variant for the domestic Air Force. As part of this work, the first prototype of the aircraft was built and flown in February 2008, and the flight test program began to be executed, and in 2009 a contract was signed, in accordance with which the serial production of the new aircraft began in 2010. In February 2014, at the end of the first stage of state tests, the first serial Su-35S were handed over to operation at the front of the Air Force.
Work continued on the T-10B (Su-34) theme. The state tests program was successfully completed in spring 2011, after which the delivery of aircraft to combat units began. In March 2014, the aircraft was put into service under the designation Su-34.
The bureau continued to work on promoting its aircraft on the international market. The geography of deliveries has significantly expanded: Su-30MK2 has Venezuela, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Uganda. On the basis of the Su-30MKI were created new modifications of the aircraft, which found a buyer in Malaysia (Su-30MKM) and Algeria (Su-30MKI (A)). At the same time, in order to update the fleet of combat units of the Russian Air Force, on the basis of export Su-30MKK and Su-30MKI, the Su-30M2 and Su-30SM aircraft were developed and introduced into a series of modifications for these aircraft. At the same time, the implementation of the modernization program for the Su-27SM (3) and Su-25SM aircraft continued.
Constantly mastering new methods of work, the Sukhoi Design Bureau, in conjunction with production plants, has now completely switched to paperless technologies for designing and building aircraft. Now all new projects are carried out only in electronic form, which allows to reduce the time and reduce the cost of developing documentation and preparation of production. In cooperation with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RFNC-VNIIEF, the Sukhoi Design Bureau actively participates in the program of introducing the newest technologies of supercomputer modeling into the design process. Over the years, the super-computer park has been significantly expanded in the design bureaus for calculations.
Employees of the Design Bureau are often involved in work in the interests of a subsidiary enterprise - the GSS. Over the past decade, there have also been major successes. On May 19, 2008, the first prototype of the Superjet SSJ-100 aircraft was hoisted up for the first time. In less than two years, flight tests and certification of the type of aircraft were carried out, due to which the SSJ-100 began operating on regular flights with airlines in April 2011. In January 2012, the type certificate was approved by EASA and SSJ-100 entered the international market.
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