P.A. Voronin Production Center

MiG has at its disposal two aircraft plants - in Moscow [the former Znamya Truda plant, and now the P.A. Voronin Production Center] and the Moscow suburb of Lukhovitsy. In the 1980s, MiG built aircraft mainly in Moscow, and in Lukhovitsy only attached the wings. But now a resumption of mass production at the Moscow plant is unrealistic.

Moscow Aircraft Production Organization No. 30 (MAPO) was known also as the GAZ-30 plant. Aircraft Production Plant 30. The main production building is huge, well lighted assembly facility where aircraft are built-up on separate moveable cradle-stands. The MAPO facility is located in Moscow proper, on Botkinski Street, at the Khodinka bus stop. It is the oldest aircraft production facility in Russia, first utilized in 1909. During 1939, it was redesigned the State Aircraft Works No. 1.

Part of the grounds and buildings of the former Znamya Truda plant, which are adjacent to Leningrad Prospekt, were transferred to Moscow authorities who plan to develop homes on this land. In exchange the Moscow government in 2001 enabled the restructuring of the company`s tax debts to the capital's budget for a total of nearly 500 million rubles. The restructuring of the production itself undertaken by RSK MiG is one of the first examples of such a sort in the military industrial complex.

By 2003 MiG owned only 20 per cent of the Voronin production center in the heart of Moscow; the rest of the premises had been given to the city administration and will be used as construction sites. Thus, it makes no sense to speak about investing in renovation of the production line there. Part of the territory of the Moscow MiG plant was transfered to the capital in exchange for a restructuring of tax debts. Manufacture of individual units that require highly qualified workers, will remain in Moscow.

Unlike other Russian aircraft manufacturers, the RAC "MiG" really unites management, research and development, and production enterprises in a single entity.

The RAC "MiG" avails the largest aircraft manufacturing capabilities among Russian aircraft manufacturers. The total capacity of the production divisions entering into the P.A. Voronin Production Center enables the Corporation to annually produce, for example, hundreds of fighters and dozens of airliners. The production center employs about 7000 skilled workers. The Corporation vertically integrated structure provides the planned development of production capabilities, optimization of workload and efficient personnel resource management.

The P.A. Voronin Production Center with its Moscow-based head assembly plant is one of the Russia's oldest (based in 1893) and largest aircraft production enterprises (in the past - Dux factory, Znamya Truda machine-building plant and MAPO (Moscow Aircraft Production Organization). Since 1909, tens of thousands of aircraft, including the Ilyushin IL-28 tactical bombers, the renowned MiG-21 fighters and Ilyushin IL-14 and IL-18 passenger aircraft have been manufactured at this plant. At the present time, the P.A. Voronin Production Center is the major manufacturer of the MiG-29 family fighters.

The P.A. Voronin Production Center organizational structure includes the component plants in Moscow, Lukhovitsy and Kalyazin. In the 80-s and 90-s of the last century, the Moscow plant, as the leader of the Russia's aircraft industry, has assimilated and employs till now the efficient production processes: Production of large structural airframe components from various types of composite materials; Production of large welded structural airframe components from advanced steel, titanium and luminum-lithium alloys; Automated machining processes for the manufacture and assembly of parts and components.

On December 8, 1939, Pavel Voronin, Director of State Aircraft Plant #1, signed a decree, which was approved by the People's Commissariat for the Aviation Industry, establishing an experimental design department. Artyom Mikoyan was appointed its director and chief designer.

The history of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (RAC "MiG") dates back to 1893 when the DUX factory of home-made industry was established in Moscow. It specialized first in the assembly of bicycles and later in the production of hand and motor trolleys and cars.

On the verge of 19th and 20th centuries, the factory changes the profile which turned out to be prevailing in the future. In 1909 after successful construction of the first national airship in cooperation with other factories, the DUX factory starts assembling the airplanes and the same year completes the production of the first airplane.

Ten years later the DUX factory becomes Russia's largest aircraft-building plant that produced the FARMAN, NEWPORT, MORAN, VUAZEN airplanes and others. The following figures give evidence of the plant production capacity during those years: in 1914 the plant produced 180 airplanes, in 1917 the number of produced aircraft increased to 492.

Russian military aviator Piotr Nesterov was the first in the world practice to make an inside ascending loop on the NEWPOR-IV airplane produced at the DUX factory in 1913.

During the Civil War the factory was producing mainly airplanes of foreign design, but at the beginning of early 20-s it started assimilating the manufacture of airplanes designed by Nikolai Polikarpov. The first series-produced airplane, the R-1 two-seat reconnaissance airplane, received wide recognition after the flight over the Moscow - Beijing - Moscow route.

In the 1920s, state aircraft-building plant No.1 (GAZ No.1) was established on the base of the DUX factory on the territory of which the experimental design bureau headed by former Chief Designer Nikolai Polikarpov was set up. In 1927 the plant started the production of the first series of U-2 (PO-2) trainers of the Polikarpov's design. Thousands of pilots underwent training on this type of airplane. At the same time the plant produced in series the R-5 airplane which became famous in the world during the rescue of Cheluskin North explorers.

The plant collaborated with the design bureaus headed by S.V.Ilyushin, A.S. Yakovlev, V.M. Petlyakov. During these years the TsKB-26 and TsKB-30 aircraft (prototypes of the IL-2 and IL-4, respectively) were rolled off the production lines. In 1934 V.K. Kokkinaki and M.Kh. Gordienko made the first legendary nonstop flight from Moscow to the USA.

During the Great Patriotic War (WWII) the Plant produced thousands of aircraft of various types including the IL-2 assault planes.

After the war the Plant has produced the whole family of airliners, including the IL-12, IL-14 and the leading aircraft of civil aviation of that time - IL-18.

The Plant launched the production of military aircraft developed by the A.I. Mikoyan design bureau, MiG-21 type - from 1962, and MiG-23 type - from 1968. These aircraft were also produced under license in a number of countries (China, Poland, Czechia and India). 25 years ago the MiG-29 light fighter made the first flight on 6 October, 1977 and the Plant started series production of this fighter whose main role was to gain air superiority from 1982. High combat efficiency, excellent performance, weapons and maintainability - these features are inherent to all versions of the MiG-29 fighter. 1500 aircraft of this type were totally produced and exported to 28 countries. In 2002 the RAC "MiG" enlarged its foreign market: supplied the MiG-29 fighters to five countries of the Asian and Middle-East regions having no like aircraft in the inventory. It is significant that all training air combats of this fighter with the fighters placed in service of the NATO Air Forces confirmed air superiority of the Russian vehicle. The interest paid to this type of fighter is signified by the fact that in March 2002 the Internet had 1074 web-sites containing 26,917 documents with information in more than 10 foreign languages pertaining to the MiG-29 fighter.

In the 80-s the Plant completed a unique state order for development and production of the head section and engine control unit of the BURAN multiuse spacecraft.