New generation Ruslan planes to be produced in 2016-2018.

MOSCOW, February 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Regular production of the Ruslan
new generation will start in Ulyanovsk in 2016-2018, Director General of
the Volga-Dnepr Company Valery Gabriel said.
"The Volga-Dnepr company will place an order for 20 planes, and there
is an option for 20 more," he said. "The project will repay itself if we
have orders for 50-60 An-24 Ruslan planes of the new generation."
"I am sure that the order for this model, which is unique in the
world, will come from Russia's Air Forces," he added.
The project is implemented jointly with aircraft specialists from
Ukraine.
In 2017-2018 the international aviation commission will raise its
requirements to the engines and board equipment. The programme to
modernise the Ruslan to answer the new requirements, would need 400
million dollars, Gabriel said.
Modernised Ruslan will have a cargo capacity of 150 tonnes.
"Not a single foreign aircraft even approaches Ruslan, their maximum
capacity is below 100 tonnes," experts say.
For a time the massive An-124 held the mantle of the world's largest
aircraft before the arrival of the An-225, a stretched six engine
derivative. It is commonly used for oversize freight charters. Developed
primarily as a strategic military freighter /in which role it can carry
missile units and main battle tanks/, the first prototype An-124 flew on
December 26, 1982. A second prototype, named Ruslan /after a Russian folk
hero/, made the type's first western public appearance at the Paris
Airshow in June 1985, preceding the type's first commercial operations in
January 1986. Since that time the An-124 has set a wide range of payload
records, a recent achievement being the heaviest single load ever
transported by air - a 124 tonne powerplant generator and its associated
weight spreading cradle, a total payload weight of 132.4 tonnes, set in
late 1993. Notable features include nose and tail cargo doors, 24 wheel
undercarriage allowing operations from semi prepared strips, the ability
to kneel to allow easier front loading, and flybywire control system. The
two major An-124 variants are the basic An-124 and similar Russian civil
certificated An-124-100.


.Tu-204SM to be supplied 2012 - source.

MOSCOW, February 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Supplies of Tu-204SM medium-range
planes is expected in 2012, Vice President of the state-run United
Aviation Corporation /OAK/ Alexander Tulyakov told a news conference.
The Red Wings is the "major client," he said. The order is for about
44 planes, and the batch production will be between 2012 and 2016.
"The capacities of the Aviastar-SP are sufficient for that," he added.
"The project is complicated and it requires efforts from several
authorities," he continued. "Now, a commission uniting different
authorities is settling all the issues."
"One of the major matters is the high pricing for the components, but
we managed to discuss it with suppliers, and the prices will be lowered,"
he said.
The enterprise will support technically Tu-204SM's living cycle.
"The budget has financed the design works, they were completed
successfully, and I am sure the demand for the planes will be high,"
Tulyakov said.
The Tupolev Tu-204 is a twin-engined medium-range jet airliner capable
of carrying 210 passengers, designed by Tupolev and produced by
Aviastar-SP and Kazan Aircraft Production Association. First introduced in
1989, it is considered to be broadly equivalent to the Boeing 757 and has
competitive performance and fuel efficiency in its class. It was developed
for Aeroflot as a replacement for the medium-range Tupolev Tu-154 trijet.
The latest version, with significant upgrades and improvements, is the
Tu-204SM, which performed its first flight on 29 December 2010.


.Young intellectuals ball celebrates 50 anniversary of man in space.

KRASNOYARSK, February 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's over 1,500 talented
young people will take part in a traditional IQ Ball together with the
youth from the Asia-Pacific Region's countries. This year's 'star ball'
will have a motto "Let's Go," which is a phrase first cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin said as he was taking off the Earth for the first manned space
flight. The ball will take place on February 25 and it will be devoted to
the first flight.
"As of now, over 1,500 energetic and initiative youth leaders from
various regions of Russia and the Asia-Pacific countries have confirmed
their participation," Head of the Youth Initiatives Support Department of
the regional Ministry of Sports Anna Zhuravleva told Itar-Tass.
The organises have an idea that the young intellectuals, like
cosmonauts do, will undergo a choice procedure and certain training
programmes.
"Everything will start with a theoretic course of a young cosmonaut -
they will have to fill in a questionnaire on their personal and industrial
achievements, then they will have to take part in competitions,
conferences and so no, and only after that the best will get to the
so-called Star Town to go to the Youth Space Station, where they will take
part in various projects in different modules."
Quite traditionally the grand polonaise will open the ball, which will
be closed by a waltz.
The atmosphere of space environment will be achieved by the alley of
interactive technologies, where the participants may play computer games,
draw, or watch the Earth from the space. The organisers will offer eight
interactive platforms to use.
The evening concert featuring talented youth will be the apotheosis of
the event.
Russia's first IQ Ball was organised in 2003 at the initiative of the
region's then governor, presently Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander
Khloponin.

-0-kar