Russia to cancel new $44 million ‘Kuruznik’ project: aircraft failed

According to Yuri Trutnev, the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian president in the Far Eastern Federal District, the Russian project of the LMS-901 Baikal aircraft, which was supposed to replace the Soviet An-2, failed.

As Trutnev noted, the development of the Baikal has collapsed, and the serial production of this aircraft is no longer planned.

“Work on the small Baikal aircraft has reached a dead end. We do not expect anything like this,” he emphasized.

Costs of developing the Baikal: significant investments without results

The LMS-901’s development was launched in 2019 by the Russian company Baikal Engineering, which is part of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant. The total cost of the project was $44 million (3.5 billion rubles).

Initially, it was planned that the aircraft’s serial production would start in 2024, and its price would be $1.49 million (120 million rubles). However, the cost of the design rose sharply to $5.66 million (455 million rubles). After Vladimir Putin’s intervention, the price was “reduced” to $3.48 million (280 million rubles), but the start of production was postponed to 2025.

Development shortcomings and a request for additional funding

The developers of the Baikal made several serious mistakes, which required an almost complete redesign of the aircraft. Despite this, the design team turned to the state for additional funding of $120 million (10 billion rubles) and an extension of the development period for another five years.

Due to the project’s failure, Trutnev noted that, in fact, there is no small aviation in Russia. Instead of launching new models, the government plans to upgrade the old An-2s that have been in service since Soviet times.

Ukrainian MP Marian Zablotskyi pointed out that in recent years, Russia has spent at least $23 billion on developing six different aviation projects, none of which have been successful. Baikal is yet another example of how significant investments in aviation do not bring results.