Irina Kondina, POLYOT Research and Production Company - ФГУП "Научно-производственное предприятие "Полет"
Release Date: 2009-08-21
Irina Kondina, Chief of Department of Civil Aviation Radio Communication Systems of Research and Production Company POLYOT, one of the very few female experts in the industry of radio communications, was interviewed by RussianAvia at MAKS 2009 to discuss the position and activities of POLYOT as the strategic supplier of the Russian civil and military aviation, one of the first in Russia to have its systems and products certified by SITA.As the importance of Russia’s civil aviation rises, how is POLYOT evolving and what are its current developments?
First of all, we will participate in equipping the new Russian aircraft Tu-204SM with radio communication equipment and separate radio stations of close and remote communication and integration equipment. Radio communication equipment is linked to on-board systems of data exchange - special automatic systems for radio station control, collecting information and transmitting it to airlines, or for meteorological services. Basically, the idea is to facilitate the work of the pilots.
According to international requirements, starting from 2014-15 all aircraft are to be equipped with new pilot-control systems, and new machines will only be certified if they apply this new technology.
Is Russian civil aviation equipment capable of competing with foreign equipment?
There’s a state decree on the priority of using Russian equipment for Russian aircrafts. However, beyond this point, two months ago our equipment was tested in Canada to approve its compliance with the standards of international networks at the Montreal headquarters of SITA (a multinational information technology company specialized in IT and telecommunication services for aviation). SITA owns the European network and has the only certified testing stand in the world in Montreal.
The equipment was tested on foreign on-board systems and, although it has not yet been tested on Russian aircraft, our compliance with the foreign standards was proven. As soon as Russia adjusts to the same standards, there will be no problem.
Russia does not yet have on-ground data transmission networks. In Europe, remote communication systems are only used for transatlantic flights because satellites are too expensive. But the Russian experts have created remote communication equipment based on American and Canadian standards.
Is there enough client interest in POLYOT´s products? Who are your current partners?
We have partnership agreements with a few Russian construction bureaus like Tupolev and Ilyushin on certain conditions. For example, the condition with regard to Ilyushin was that if the equipment that we produced for Il-96-300/400 did not pass the certification, it would not be installed. The matter is that even with a certificate of the aviation register, the aircraft also needs to obtain the right to access international networks. The aviation register certifies on-board equipment for installation whereas the aircraft also needs the permission to access international networks where it can be registered and serviced. This is a procedure where airlines agree with the international networks and each aircraft gets its own identification number.
Does the industry in Russia widely support your endeavors?
We are a state enterprise that exists on a contract basis; basically, it means that we earn our money ourselves. We obtain budget assets on the condition that we invest the same amount of money. We participate in tenders where we must prove every time that our ideas are necessary and better than the competition’s. For some equipment, we’re the only manufacturer in this field in Russia, such as data transmission equipment. We work almost with all the aircraft construction companies - both civil and military.
We get budget funds for R&D. Today, all aircraft manufacturers buy ready-made equipment and have no money to pay us for new developments. If we obtain government grants for new developments, we need to calculate their approximate cost including the cost of recovery, which can afterwards decrease as we develop production in larger series.
Which sector is strategically more important for you - civil or military?
The military sector, of course: we create on-board and on-ground communication systems: close and remote communication radio stations, antennas, remote control systems…
What is your target market?
Only Russia: our on-ground communication systems are installed on Russian aircraft, except for cases when an aircraft enters the international market and our communication systems are sold in China, Vietnam, India, and Venezuela. These systems can’t be sold separately. When a new aircraft is created, special requirement specifications are developed with all the equipment approved, certified before installation, before the entire aircraft is finally certified. Any replacements require new testing.
Are POLYOT´S developments purely Russian or do you cooperate with other countries?
So far, we have only had foreign contracts for supplies of entire systems. We have a department of external economic relations in charge of all the international relations and foreign contracts.
What is different about supplies of aircraft equipment is that these contracts also include after-sale servicing. Aircraft can’t wait on the parking lot; it costs too much, so our technological overhaul department coordinates all replacement works and stocks of spare parts.
Indeed, more and more attention is paid to cooperation with foreign partners, as I have recently seen at the Tupolev design bureau during a meeting with the General Director of Tupolev dedicated to Tu-204SM. Before, we used to have entire overhaul bases and flying laboratories that disappeared after the 1990s. Now there are some small companies that supply small spare parts and, unfortunately, often break warranty obligations and that affect planes and airlines… This needs to be resolved.
On a more personal note, what has attracted you to the world of aviation and helped you to be successful in your career?
I graduated from the mechanics and mathematics faculty of Nizhny Novgorod State University. I used to work as a programmer of communication systems. At first, I was developing software for military systems and then I worked in production, which helped me to become familiar with electronic schemes and equipment, and to learn to develop them, although that was not my initial profile. For some reason, eventually I realized I was more inclined to work with people and organize the work rather than do the programming.
I managed to apply my skills and my education successfully due to its diversity. As we studied applied mathematics, our professors were telling us that they could be ‘applied’ anywhere. Apart from that, my dynamic thinking, good social and organization skills, customer relations, familiarity with programming and algorithms and with the equipment, however fast it develops, have greatly helped me to solve many issues.
Finally, what would be your general overview of the Russian aviation and its prospects?
We very much hope that Russian aviation will rise with its newest projects: An-140 and An-148; the new Tu-204SM - the potential basic aircraft with equipment that will be further installed on new types of aircraft, the new MS-21 project where we’ll provide integral module avionics of the 5th generation equipment - all these projects have a very high potential. It will be a big step forward that would raise the Russian industry ‘on the wing’ by 2015-2016 so that we won’t depend on the old unreliable Boeings but we’ll have a flourishing national aviation and flourishing companies producing for both the civil and the military industries.
| Company: | POLYOT Research and Production Company - ФГУП "Научно-производственное предприятие "Полет" |
| Position: | Chief of the Department of Civil Aviation Radio Communication Systems |
| Country: | Russian Federation |