According to the Expert publication, Anatoly Serdyukov, head of the Rostec aviation cluster, has begun a total optimization of the "excess production capacity" at the enterprises controlled by the holding.
Controversial, but not unreasonable, if you seriously look at it. On the one hand, it seems that there is no need to do all this, because above the Kamov and Mil design bureaus there is already a control superstructure represented by the Russian Helicopters holding company itself, and then Rostec.
However, not everything is as simple as we would like. And just start shouting "Serdyukov resign!" it seems to be desirable, but it is worth considering everything carefully and in order.
So, Rostec decided to merge two design bureaus - Mil and Kamov. Instead, a certain National Center for Helicopter Engineering will be created. This is exactly what was said in the article by Aleksey Khazbiev "The screws hit the living." However, in our opinion, not everything is as optimistic as they are trying to show in Rostec, far from it.
Once in the Soviet past, it was decided to create not one, but two bureaus - so that engineers would seem to compete with each other. But the rivalry did not work out, and the designers simply divided the niches. Mil took up multi-purpose vehicles, and Kamov began working on highly specialized helicopters. Especially over helicopters for the needs of the fleet.
The question arises: who can suffer more from such optimization? In addition, many experts already argue that our armed forces and navy can only benefit from such optimization.
So far, we are seeing the following: job cuts at helicopter plants and the inevitable unrest associated with this.
It all started with the Progress Aviation Company named after NI Sazykin in the town of Arsenyev, Primorsky Territory, which is part of the Russian Helicopters holding.
About 200 employees of the company have received notice of layoffs since the beginning of next year. And then they formed the core of the protest rallies.
But why did the optimization start with layoffs?
The problem is simple: people have nothing to pay with. This is clearly not the fault of Progress employees, for they do not produce butter, which can be traded after work. And with the sale of the plant's products, there were simply huge problems.
The main reason for this decision is the complete absence of orders for the production of the Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters, no matter how wild it sounds.
The contract for the supply of 140 Alligators for the Russian Aerospace Forces has already been practically fulfilled, and no new requirements and interests have been announced.
Initially, the Ministry of Defense intended to buy the Ka-52 less than the Mi-28, but even 5 to 1 not in favor of the Ka-52 turned out to be too heavy. The operation and maintenance of such a combined fleet is too expensive even in our country with our capabilities and for our military.
And so it turned out that a new preliminary contract for the supply of more than a hundred Ka-52s for the Russian Aerospace Forces hung in the air. And according to many sources, there will be no contract.
And the foreign market does not help out. The Ka-52 did not interest anyone. The only contract for the entire time for the construction of 42 Ka-52K naval helicopters for Egypt (yes, for the Mistrals sharpened for the Ka-52) has actually been fulfilled, but no new buyers could be found.
And this situation could not but affect the manufacturer. According to trade unions, if in January 2018 a little more than 7 thousand people worked at Progress, then in January 2019 there were already about 6 thousand people. But this is still a lot for a plant that produces less than 20 helicopters a year.
And what about Europe or overseas?
Airbus Helicopters employs a total of 20 thousand people (half the number of Russian Helicopters), but Europeans annually sell 360 of their helicopters worth 6 billion euros. This is one and a half times more than our entire helicopter holding, in physical terms and three times more in money.
If you look overseas, at Lockheed Martin Corp, which now owns the Sikorsky Aircraft helicopter company, it turns out that it sells 7-7.5 billion dollars a year in cars. And Sikorsky Aircraft works even less, about 15 thousand people.
Here, in fact, is the comparison …
And no glimpse into the darkest future. All the calculations for the sale of the Ka-60 and Ka-62 did not come true either, on the forums they repeat like a mantra like a mantra that production will begin in 2020.
But I must say that they have not been able to launch the production of the Ka-62 for ten years already. There were no engines, they tried to install French ones, which we lost later because of the sanctions … Together with Austrian gearboxes.
In general, no one needs a civilian Ka abroad either, especially since there are fears that the plant will be able to produce cars at all due to a lack of components.
It turns out that very difficult times await Progress. And people …
In the meantime, the top management of Rostec has already moved on to solving a more complex problem - the unification of KB Kamov and KB Mil into a single structure: the National Center for Helicopter Engineering (NCV).
This process should be completed by the end of 2022. It is assumed that as a result of the merger, the total area of the two enterprises will be reduced by at least 40%, and the area of buildings and structures - by 20%. At the same time, about 5% of employees of both design bureaus will lose their jobs. But the layoffs will not affect engineers and designers, but exclusively support and management personnel.
Perhaps. But let's see who will suffer the most in this situation? An option is drawn that the Kamov Design Bureau will get stronger. Quite to be expected, because Kamov helicopters are sold several times less than Mil helicopters.
And if we fail to put into operation on time and (most importantly) sell the Ka-62 and Ka-226 models, then we may not have to wait for 2022 either.
Why do you need an OKB, albeit with vast experience, best practices and employees, if the machines that this team develops are not needed by anyone?
There is logic.
And by 2022 this unification will take place. Under the auspices of JSC National Helicopter Center (NTsV) named after M. L. Mil and N. I. Kamov.
That is, another add-on of parasites, the entire load of which will consist in transferring paper to reports. Because Russian Helicopters will be above them, and Rostec will be above them.
Something similar can be observed when a monster was assembled from the Zhukovsky Academy, the Gagarin Academy, two radio electronics schools (Voronezh and Tambov) and the Voronezh Aviation Engineering School: the Zhukovsky and Gagarin Academy.
But a terrible experiment on military academies is already a fact, but what will happen to helicopters, we'll see.
Both brands, according to Rostec, will remain independent, but “the teams of both design bureaus will join the NCV”. The creation of the NCV is intended to remove administrative, legal and economic barriers that still hinder cooperation between the two teams.
What kind of cooperation can be between design bureaus working on helicopters that are fundamentally different in schemes is not entirely clear.
What kind of “obstacles to the exchange of technical solutions” can there be, that in order to eliminate them it will be necessary to recruit a whole crowd of “effective managers and administrators”?
The words from Rostec that design bureaus of the type will no longer compete, but will start competing with foreign manufacturers, sound illogical as well.
In general, all this looks like a kindergarten "Romashka".
One gets the impression that KB Mil and KB Kamov are staffed with mentally retarded people who create problems for themselves. They do not want to exchange technical solutions, they compete with each other.
As far as I understand, KB Mil is trying to push anti-submarine helicopters, and KB Kamov is rapidly driving universal trucks to the market.
And we need to create another center of control in the form of this NCV, which will monitor these unreasonable.
It is clear that everything is running very badly, and Rostec and Russian Helicopters are simply not able to cope with the raging design bureaus.
Well, then we should immediately make a “Committee for Control” over all of them. It's no joke, there are so many supervisors to control …
In general, Serdyukov's next optimization looks very so-so. As, indeed, everything in his performance.
Do you know what I would love to believe? In the released areas. On which it will be possible to build something more useful than helicopter factories. For example, residential complexes or shopping centers.
On the other hand, when these factories were created, it was about the Soviet Army and about the armies of satellites from the Internal Affairs Directorate. Today, such a need for helicopters, perhaps, may not exist, although personally I doubt it.
In general, the very idea of unification is not new. The unification was first discussed in 2012. Then Russian Helicopters made a number of stunning statements on the topic that “over the past 20 years, both design bureaus have lost a significant part of their employees - and the trend is such that in the near future neither Mil Design Bureau nor Kamov Design Bureau will be able to implement a major project”.
It is clear that if you feed managers, not engineers, organize useless exhibitions and spend 50 million dollars each for concerts of the miracles of gerontology, instead of paying workers normally, then both engineers and workers will trivially scatter.
So the merger, possibly, will make it possible to compensate for the personnel losses of both design bureaus. Perhaps.
Although if you look closely, it would be better for Rostec to first deal with the United Engine Corporation. Whichever industry you hit - there are no engines everywhere. It seems that in our yard it is not 2019, but 1919. Or 1929. Or 1939. Does not matter. It is important that, as then, there are problems with the engines, both at sea and in the air.
And this is despite the creation of this very UEC, which also had to optimize, reduce, increase, bring, and so on.
And there are still no engines.
It is very difficult to say how successful the next reorganization from Serdyukov will be. So far, all the associations have not brought much success. Let's see what happens with the helicopters. Will take out the screws "Ka" and "Mi" one more additional superstructure or break off during warming up.
Necessary addition.
The press service of the state corporation "Rostec" reported the following upon publication:
Neither the French nor the Austrian manufacturer refused to participate in the Ka-62 project. The sanctions do not apply to this project, since the helicopter is exclusively civilian. Serial production of the Ka-62, indeed, will begin in the near future, in 2020 it is planned to transfer the first batch of 4 vehicles. An agreement was reached on their leading operation in the interests of Primorye - the corresponding agreement was signed within the framework of the EEF-2019 by Andrey Boginsky, Director General of Russian Helicopters, and Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of Primorsky Krai.
It is assumed that as a result of the merger, the total area of the two enterprises will be reduced by at least 40%, and the area of buildings and structures - by 20%. In fact, this reduction in space took place back in 2015, when JSC Kamov moved to a production site in Tomilino.
The program for the creation of the National Center for Helicopter Engineering presupposes the preservation and development of two design bureaus and their teams, which will continue to work on the creation of a new generation of helicopters of the Mi and Ka brands. At the same time, the merger into a single company will make it possible to abandon procurement procedures and the complex process of transferring intellectual property when exchanging technical solutions between the two design bureaus, applicable to both Mi and Ka helicopters. In addition, the creation of a unified test base will make it possible to exclude the conduct of the same type of strength, aerodynamic and other tests.
