Russia struggles with aircraft production, repairs due to sanctions — aviation expert

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"Russia's military aviation is less dependent on Western components than its civilian aviation. However, most modern Russian aircraft, including the Su-30, Su-35, Su-34, and even the Su-57, are highly dependent on Western components. This includes microprocessors, chips, memory chips, and certain navigation technologies, as the Russian GLONASS system is also based on Western technologies. Of course, the sanctions currently imposed on Russia significantly limit the aggressor country's capabilities both in producing new aircraft and in their repair and maintenance," noted the aviation expert.

According to him, under sanctions, Russia was able to produce only 28 aircraft out of the planned 55 in 2023, including Su-35, Su-34, and Su-30. For example, 7 Su-57 units were planned, but only 4 were produced. The greatest shortfall was in the Su-34, with Russia planning to produce 12 units, but only 6 were made. This is all directly related to the sanctions imposed on Russia.

"If we talk about the production of Russian aircraft in 2024, the numbers were even smaller than in 2023. It is known that just over 10 units were produced, although the plans were to receive between 40 and 50 new aircraft. We can see that sanctions are affecting Russia's ability to restore its military aviation. The majority of Russia's modernized military transport aircraft also use some Western components. Accordingly, for Russia, the lifting of sanctions is critically important to receive components for its aircraft, as well as for rearmament and restoring its production base: machines, consumables, elements, and tools for equipment, which Russia is currently unable to receive," summarized Bohdan Dolintse.

• Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Russia asked the United States to let it buy Boeing aircraft using billions of dollars in frozen state assets after a ceasefire was reached in Ukraine.