Russian Defense Ministry to Modify MC-21 Passenger Aircraft Into AWACS
09:45 17.06.2015(updated 10:46 17.06.2015)
According to head of sales for the plane's producer, Russian Defense Ministry plans to order a revamp of MC-21 passenger jets to create reconnaissance aircraft similar to the US AWACS aircraft.
LE BOURGET (Sputnik) – The Russian Defense Ministry plans to order a revamp of MC-21 passenger jets to create reconnaissance aircraft similar to the US AWACS aircraft, the head of sales for the plane's producer, Irkut, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
"We haven't begun talks yet with the [Russian] Defense Ministry on the precise base configurations, but it's assumed this process will begin soon," Valery Lunkov said at the Le Bourget Air Show outside Paris.
According to Lunkov, the Defense Ministry has ordered 45 new Russian short- and mid-range MC-21 passenger planes to transport troops in order to replace the aging Tu-134s and Tu-154s.
Irkut MC-21 is a new narrow-body design mid-range passenger jet, the production of which will be mostly localized in Russia.
In November 2014, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that the first MC-21 aircraft would be constructed by the end of 2015.
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Russia plans to sell up to 1,000 MC-21 jets within the next 20 years and has so far garnered 175 orders.
© Sputnik
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