The project to create the “Baikal” aircraft has encountered serious difficulties: work on it is currently almost frozen, and mass production is not planned for the foreseeable future. This was reported by Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District.
“You know that we were working on the development of a small aircraft, the ‘Baikal.’ That work has reached a dead end as of today. In other words, we are no longer expecting the ‘Baikal’ aircraft,” Trutnev stated.
The design of the light multipurpose aircraft “Baikal” allowed for a maximum passenger capacity of nine. In September 2024, Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of the AviaPort agency, said that “Baikal” could serve as a modern alternative to the outdated An-2 planes still used on regional routes but no longer meet current moral or technical standards. Moreover, the An-2 requires expensive aviation gasoline.
Panteleev noted that theoretically, the new aircraft model could carry up to 14 passengers, but current aviation regulations limit the maximum number of passengers on single-engine aircraft to nine. The “Baikal” has a top speed of 300 km/h, about 1.5 times faster than the An-2.
In September 2024, the cost of the “Baikal” light aircraft dropped almost in half, from 455 million rubles to 260 million rubles, following orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Eastern Economic Forum. Trutnev acknowledged that the manufacturer acted promptly: just a few days after the forum, the price was significantly reduced. He also noted that the aircraft’s technical specifications had been improved: it could now take off and land on short runways as short as 350 meters, compared to the original requirement of 1050 meters. Trutnev highlighted that only 33 runways in the entire Far East exceed 1000 meters in length.
He emphasized that the aircraft was expected to be operational in some form by 2026. The main goal at the time was to create an affordable and safe aircraft that could operate from short airstrips.
In February 2025, it became known that the contract for the development of the light multipurpose turboprop “Baikal” might be revoked from the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA). Another possibility was the suspension of the project until 2030.
Serious design flaws became apparent at this stage. Fixing them could take three to five years, and using a modernized An-2 was considered an alternative. Discussions also began about transferring the “Baikal” project to S7 Group, an option considered at a Ministry of Industry and Trade meeting in late December.
The aircraft will essentially need to be redesigned from scratch. Identified issues include poor stability at low speeds, difficulties with control, and landing gear design. UZGA has already asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade for additional funding to refine the aircraft, reportedly about 10 billion rubles. Later, the ministry confirmed that UZGA would retain the contract for the development of the “Baikal.”
In late February, former Sverdlovsk Region Governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev asked UZGA leadership to confirm their plans to expand production in Yekaterinburg amid rumors of problems with fulfilling the “Baikal” aircraft contract. Kuyvashev announced that a meeting in April would discuss the matter.
In response, UZGA Deputy Director Alexey Pakhtusov assured that the company was ready to begin serial production. He noted that there had been multiple discussions about transferring or revising the project since Sverdlovsk historically is not an aviation region. Nonetheless, the region repeatedly beat out other aviation hubs like Ulyanovsk, Samara, and Smolensk in securing the project.
In December, UZGA was visited by former Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and ex-Director General of UZGA Vadim Badekha, both now senior officials at the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). According to two local business sources cited by URA, the visit was tied to rumors of enterprise troubles and efforts to strip UZGA of the “Baikal” contract.
The two officials were taken around the plant and shown the current status and development plans. Ex-Governor Kuyvashev, along with his deputies Dmitry Ionin and Vasily Kozlov, attended the event. During the discussion of the “Baikal” project, participants expressed optimistic views.
At the end of March 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade selected a contractor to modernize the LMS-901 “Baikal.” According to the procurement results, the sole bidder and winner was UZGA. The contract value is 10.136 billion rubles.
According to technical documents, the aircraft, the VK-800SM engine, and the AV-901 propeller must be improved by 2027. After this, the LMS-901 “Baikal” is expected to have a cruising speed of 250 km/h. Its range will be 745 km with a 1.5-ton payload or 1520 km with 810 kg. The aircraft will be adapted to operate from class “E” airfields (runways ≥500 meters) and class “D” (≥1000 meters).
On Wednesday, May 14, the “Baikal” aircraft project was reported to be facing serious issues: it is nearly halted, with no timeline for mass production. This was again confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev.
Ilya Grashchenkov, Director of the Center for Regional Policy, stressed that developing a new domestic aircraft in a short time is extremely difficult. Testing and certifying aircraft is a lengthy process. Meanwhile, the use of Western aircraft is increasingly restricted, deliveries are shrinking, and the situation in the industry is growing critical.
Sanctions and the fact that military orders occupy around 80% of production capacity hinder the growth of civil aircraft production, according to Lukashevich. Grashchenkov said the Ministry of Industry and Trade is coordinating the response to these challenges.
Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR and head of the Civil Aviation Commission of the Public Council under Rostransnadzor, stated that developing domestic aircraft is strategically important and directly linked to national aviation sovereignty. He emphasized that the success of this effort depends on high-quality domestic aircraft, timely production, and the personal responsibility of all participants, from factory workers to government officials.
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