Air mobility and aviation technologies

8. Air mobility and aviation technologies

1. Name of Technological platform and general information about the initiative of its formation

The radical increase in transportations of people and freights by means of air transport is:

firstly, priority public interest as it contributes to:

• strenghtening of territorial integrity of the country,

• maintenance of transport accessibility of the country’s remote regions;

• equalization of imbalance in arrangement of productive forces;

• more deep integration of Russia into the world community;

secondly, important public need since it provides:

• development of socially important air-freight and air-passenger operations;

• free movement of the people as an element of improving quality of life in the country;

• development of socially important aerial work (emergency, fire fighting, agricultural activities, various kinds of environment monitoring);

thirdly, condition for business development as it improves:

• economic communications of business entities;

• territorial mobility of labor forces;

• air transport maintenance of large-scale investment projects.
The way of increasing air mobility (as it follows from the name of TP) is development and introduction of domestic technologies, which are the key ones for developing aeronautical engineering, air traffic controls and aviation infrastructure.

The organization-initiators of TP « Air mobility and aviation technologies » are

• FSUE ”Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after professor N.E. Zhukovsky” (FGUP “TsAGI”),

• FSUE “State Research Institute of Aviation Systems” (FGUP ”GosNIIAS”),

• FSUE “Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P.I. Baranov” (FGUP “CIAM”)

• FSUE «State Research Institute of Civil Aviation” (FGUP “GosNIIGA”).

The organization –initiators agreed that FGUP “Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after professor N.E. Zhukovsky” should become the coordinator of the platform.

The organizations representing aviation business (airline “Aeroflot”, group of the companies “Volga-Dnepr”), industry (SC “Rostechnologii”, “UAC”, “Russian Helicopters”, UEC (ОDK), “Aircraft Engineering Concern”, “Concern PVO “Almaz-Antey”), Institutes of Higher Education (MAI) and other organizations, joined the TP later.

2. 
   Brief description of prospective purposes, problems and primary results of technological platform
   

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  organization of an opened constantly operational interbranch communication site for discussion, identification, demand making and organization of high-technology projects of creation and modernization of aeronautical engineering and other technique of air transport;
  
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  development of a coordinated program of investigations and development conducted by research organizations and teams in the interests of realization of problem-oriented projects determinated by management bodies of technological platform;
  
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  implementation of a system for assessment of technology readiness levels, organization of effective transfer of “breakthrough” technologies into the practical activity of companies - developers, manufacturers and consumers of engineering;
  
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  synchronization of financing investigations and development on the part of the state and business for concentration of government and off-budget financing on the most significant technological directions, organization of partial-government investment partnership in the field of development of aeronautical engineering and air transport;
  
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  commercialization of the developed technologies, practical introduction of technologies capable to increase the level of air mobility, physical and economical accessibility of passenger and cargo air services for people and business entity of the country;
  
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  want formation in staffing of high-tech areas of creation and use of aeronautical engineering and other means of air transport, assistance in personnel training on aviation specialties.
  
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  assistance to elaboration of norms, rules and standards of government regulation that accelerate innovation processes stimulating the entering of new products and services into the market of air operations;
  
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  organization of transfer of technologies created within the scope of Technological platform, into other branches;
  
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  harmonization of aviation technology development in Russia with the appropriate directions of activities within the framework of foreign technological initiatives.
  

Introduction of technologies developed in Russia into a system of air transport of the country will become the main result of functioning technological platform. This ensured that the system would increasingly answer modern requirements; there will occur an essential growth of passenger and freight turnover, application of aircraft in economic complex of Russia. The increase of air mobility and development of aircraft industry and high-technology branches related to it will promote transfer of domestic economy to the innovation course of development, increase in educational level of people and formation of highly skilled specialists.

In order to remove barriers on the course of developing market of aircraft operations and aerial work, it is necessary to conduct wide package of investigations and development directed to creation and introduction of innovation high technology products and services capable to affect on physical accessibility of air transport, cost saving and improving of air traffic quality. This can be achieved due to mass introduction of new technologies and products created on their basis, into all structural elements of air transport system (aeronautical engineering, system of air traffic management, infrastructure of aircraft operations).

Promotion of advanced domestic technology to the markets of aircraft operations is provided with competitiveness of the proposal, which should meet the requirements imposed on air transport system in whole and on each of its three basic elements separately. Such requirements (recognized by the world aviation community) are safety and regularity of flight operations, ecological compatibility and ergonomics, energy efficiency and accessibility (physical and financial).

Markets and market requirements determine a structure of TP “Air mobility and aviation technologies”.

Technological directions aimed at developing elements of air transport system and providing satisfaction to the main advanced requirements to this system, form a structure, in which groups (complexes) of technologies are formed on the intersection of technological directions, which are supposed to develop within the framework of Technological platform (Fig. 1)). In general case these groups of technologies will include new technologies related to creation and the subsequent phases of life cycle (investigations, designing, manufacture, operation, utilization) of appropriate kinds of engineering.

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Рис.1. Scheme of forming technology groups which are supposed to develop within the framework of technological platform

A number of such integrated projects will be realized within the bounds of Technological platform, i.e. the structure of TP “Air mobility and aviation technology” has a view presented in Fig. 3.

While making a list of integrated problem-oriented projects it was accepted that for ensuring managing ability (at least at the first stage of TP functioning) the number of such projects should not be significant. Therefore, five first-order projects (Tab. 1) were selected of large quantity of the proposals received from TP participants. It appears that the successful realization of the projects (marked in the Table) developed within the framework of TP “Air mobility and aviation technology” will exert positive influence on a whole number of Russian economy sectors.

5. Brief description of the offered measures in the field of state support of development and use of technologies

TP projects may also receive state support in the form of approval of financing technologies in the framework of innovation development programs of major companies with the state participation, developed at present in accordance with the solution of Governmental commission of high technologies and innovations. Among such companies are SC “Rostekhnologii”, “UAC”, ”Oboronprom”, «Aeroflot» and others.

Financing of integrated research projects realized (pursuant to the Government regulation No. 218 of April 9, 2010) by enterprises of aircraft industry and an air transport in cooperation with the institutes of higher education may become one more instrument of the state financial support. Joint projects of Airline “Volga-Dnepr” and Ulyanovsk State University (development of an automated system of air crash prevention), Corporation “IRKUT” and Irkutsk State Technical University (development of a complex of technologies of designing, design training and manufacturing of the airplane MS-21), Kazan Helicopter Plant and Kazan State Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev (modernization of the helicopter АNSAT) and a number of other ones have already begun on the subject matter of PT “Air mobility and aviation technology”.

It appears that the credits for realization of innovation projects of aviation infrastructure development on the part of state development institutes could promote to achievement of purposes and problems of TP “Air mobility and aviation technologies”. The initiators of such projects might be the major companies of private practice interested in realization of the projects of private-state partnership.

The measures of state support are not bounded by use of financial instruments. The state can also essentially increase efficiency and effectiveness of activity in the field of development of Russian aircraft building by realization of structural conversions in a segment of aircraft science and introductions of the modern approaches to formation of scientific and technical backlog in the field of an aircraft building. Creation of the branch “National Research Center named after N.E. Zhukovsky” will allow to strengthen the innovation component of Russian aircraft building, to concentrate resources and to improve organization of activities on developing new technologies of aircraft building and transfer of them to other economic sector. The new approach to formation of scientific and technical groundwork based on assessments of technology readiness levels in innovation cycle will permit to essentially increase effectiveness of scientific activity, to lower risks of realizing projects of competitive aircraft technology formation.

The state support of technological platform activity is also expected in the sphere of normative regulation including the problems of standardization and certification, and in the field of development of international communications of the participants of technological platform with the appropriate organizations and institutes working within the framework of the similar foreign technological initiatives.

The bodies of Technological platform management will develop the recommendations for federal organs of executive authority, and also for the their participants on updating the programs and subjects of R&D, synchronization of financing from several diverse sources and coordination of activities. With this purpose it is desirable to ensure participation of the representatives of the state including state customers of federal, departmental and regional programs, in a platform management.
6. Description of basic measures on creation and maintenance of technological platform activity for the nearest year
To the present moment the following organizational stages have been completed:

1. The confirmation is received about participation in the technological platform from 14 enterprises presenting various branches of economy (air transport, industry, and training).

2. The main bodies of management, Supervisory Board and Governing Board of the Technological platform, are generated.

3. On the basis of the proposals of organization-participants of the platform five first-order projects are recommended for the further development: “Revival of local aircraft operations”, “Long-range aviation” (“Aircraft-2020”), “Perspective high-speed helicopters (Helicopter-2020)”, “Perspective cargo air transport system”, “Improvement of aircraft operation quality".

Sequence of the further activities on technological platform formation:

1. Development and acceptance of the rules of TP management bodies.

3. Formation of labor bodies of problem-oriented projects (board of administrators) and labor bodies of technological platform in whole (councils of experts, working groups).

4. Determination (by bodies of management) of integrated projects of a list of technologies for creating aeronautical engineering, air traffic management system, and objects of an aviation infrastructure, which should be developed to realize everyone of the priority integrated projects.

5. Detection of critical technologies within the framework of lists of technologies to be developed, for every project.

6. Complexification of lists of critical technologies for all priority integrated projects with the purpose of forming a summary list of critical technologies ensuring achievement of the purposes and problems of a technological platform.

7. Drawing up a strategic program of investigations and technology development according to a summary list of critical technologies.