russia is buying up soviet engines around the world to leave ukraine without the ability to repair aircraft - military expert

Russia has launched a large-scale campaign to buy up Soviet aviation components around the world in order to restore its own worn-out aircraft fleet and prevent the transfer of spare parts to Ukraine. This was stated in a comment to UNN by military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.

Russia is trying to save itself with its last strength. The fact is that the production of spare parts or components for aviation equipment is a high-tech production and it requires not only modern equipment, but also highly qualified workers. Russia did not count on such a protracted war, and today the fleet of aircraft is wearing out 

According to him, a telling example is the MiG-31 with a "disposable" engine that cannot be repaired. Due to the depletion of resources, the Russians are looking for replacement engines at storage bases, in landfills, or buying them abroad.

The campaign is large-scale, because the fleet of aircraft (of the aggressor country - ed.) is quite large. And also taking into account the fact that the planes use up their engine life, they are forced to remove them from storage. And they really buy them from those who have a license to produce some spare parts, from those who have these spare parts in warehouses. This is bad for us in the sense that we cannot buy them back

The expert stressed that Ukraine cannot independently modernize or even import-substitute Soviet components in aviation, because it is not a  legal user of this equipment. The factories for the production of this equipment are located on the territory of the aggressor country.

According to Zhdanov, there are now only two realistic scenarios for Ukraine.

The first is our own development, for which we need money and time. And the second way is to purchase from partner countries, to which we aspire to join and with which we aspire to further cooperation... We can buy planes and spare parts for them on the international market today. And I am already talking about Western planes, because there is no point in looking for old Soviet ones 

We will remind

Earlier, Deputy General Director of the aviation company "Incompass" Andriy Minakov said that Russia has launched a large-scale campaign to return components that it once exported to dozens of countries around the world. The focus is on parts that are critical for the repair and maintenance of Soviet-made military equipment. The main goal is to prevent these elements from reaching Ukraine. 

It is worth noting that a significant part of the Ukrainian aircraft fleet and military equipment is still based on Soviet models. In this regard, among the key tasks of the industry is import substitution, the development of its own production and the gradual transition to Western technologies. At the same time, the modernization of weapons and the integration of Western control, communication and protection systems are underway, which is critical for the safety of crews and the effectiveness of combat operations. Experts call the delay in legislative changes, the lack of systemic tax incentives and the imperfection of import substitution mechanisms among the main challenges. The industry lacks not only funding, but also flexible legal instruments that would allow it to respond quickly to challenges. It is crucial to create a comprehensive legislative infrastructure that will ensure stable support and sustainable development of Ukrainian aviation.