5 Fast Facts About Russia’s UZGA LMS-901 Baikal

Russia is attempting to get its domestic aviation industry back on track and build a spectrum of commercial aircraft. One of the smallest of these is the UZGA LMS-901 Baikal (named after Russia’s famous Lake Baikal). The Baikal is perhaps the smallest of Russia’s commercial domestic aircraft lineup (including the Superjet 100, the MC-21, the Tu-214, the Il-114-300, and the TVRS-44 Ladoga).

It’s unclear how many Baikals Russia hopes to produce by 2030; however, it has set ambitious goals for other aircraft. For example, Russia plans to produce over 500 TVRS-44 Ladogas by 2030 (named after another famous lake in Russia). The Ladoga is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a seating capacity of 44 passengers.

1

A small passenger aircraft

The Baikal has a capacity for a dozen passengers and is designed to operate in Russia’s harsh, remote conditions.

The Baikal is planned to carry 9 to 12 passengers and have a payload capacity of 4,400 lbs (or two tons). The Baikal is planned to fill Russia’s need for a small passenger aircraft able to land and take off from short unpaved airships in remote parts of the country.

The per-unit cost of the Baikal is meant to be no more than 120 million Rubles, or around $1.6 USD in 2020 prices (the war and sanctions have since affected the value and stability of the Ruble). The cost per flight hour is meant to be no more than $526 USD.

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2

Replacement for An-2

The aging An-2 is the most intensively manufactured bi-plane after World War Two and is to be replaced by the Baikal.

The Baikal is intended as a replacement for the aging Antonov An-2 bi-plane. The An-2 was mass-produced during the Soviet Union and dates back to 1947. It was adapted for many uses (including military), but its most common form is a 12-seater passenger aircraft.

Antonov is one of the great Soviet aviation companies and was based in the Ukrainian SSR (it also produced the famous An-225 – the largest military transport aircraft in the world). The An-2 was produced until 2002 (although a variant, the Shijiazhuang Y-5, might still be in production in China). Many An-2 remain in use but all are now over 20 years old and are in need of replacement.

3

Delayed

As with all Russian commercial aircraft, the Baikal has been delayed due to the war and sanctions.

Scramble reported the first prototype of the LMS-901 Baikal took flight at the Yekaterinburg Airfield on 30 January 2022. The article also reported that the first serial aircraft would be produced “starting from 2024.” However, this was mere weeks from the Full Scale of Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the West imposing crippling sanctions on the Russian aviation industry.

Photo: Fasttailwind | Shutterstock

As almost all Russian commercial aircraft use an extensive amount of Western parts, Russian aircraft production ground to a halt seemingly overnight as a result of the sanctions. In March, the Russian newspaper Kommersant stated that the delivery of all domestic aircraft was being delayed by two years. Speaking of the Baikal, the Kommersant stated that its certification had been postponed to 2024 and deliveries to 2025.

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4

Aurora Airlines’ order

Aurora hopes that its order of 95 Baikals will enable it to expand its network and replace aging An-2s.

According to Ch-aviation, Aurora Airlines and Ural Civil Aviation Plant UZGA (the company making the Baikal) signed an agreement for Aurora to purchase 95 Baikals. RuAvaition states the aircraft are planned to be delivered between 2026 and 2030. While many will be passenger variants, some will also be for transportation, forestry, and other services.

Photo: Love4aya I Shutterstock

RuAvitiation also notes that the obsolete An-2 makes up almost half of the fleet of local airlines in Russia’s Far East. It goes on to say that the Baikals will provide new comfort and safety for passengers flying on them. The delivery of these aircraft will also enable airlines to expand their regional network. It is unclear what other regional airlines have placed orders for the Baikal.

5

Kazakhstan to produce under license

Kazakhstan plans to produce and export the Baikal under license.

Russia is not alone in the Baikal project. Kazakhstan, through the Kazakhstan Aviation Industry (KAI), has a 20% stake in LLC Baikal-Engineering. KAI will have access to all the aircraft’s documentation and will receive a license for the production of the aircraft. It will also be able to export the aircraft from the production site in Kazakhstan (Scramble states this will allow them to bypass sanctions risks when selling the aircraft to third countries).

According to Scramble, this “...gives Kazakhstan the opportunity to develop aircraft construction and participate in the chain of cooperation in the aviation industry.” Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country by land area, and distances are often considerable, increasing the need for air connections.