The privately-owned Russian aerospace giant S7 Group has allegedly started producing blades for Western-built aero engines at one of its subsidiaries based in Novosibirsk. As reported by Russian aviation publication ATO.ru, S7 Group member Bersk Electromechanical Plant (BEMZ) has begun the manufacture of composite fan blades that are compatible with jet turbine engines such as the CFM International CFM56 that can power Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family narrowbody jets.
The revelation was reportedly made by Evgeny Elin, the Chairman of the board of directors of S7 Group at a celebration to mark the 65th anniversary of BEMZ’s Novosibirsk plant. Elin also mentioned that the company has plans to specialize in the production of more complex blades made of expensive alloys in the future.
“I am presenting the plant with a souvenir – blades from an aircraft engine, which we have already started producing,” the local publication Svidetel 24 quoted Elin as saying at the event held on September 30, 2024.
The claim comes as Russian airline operators of Western-built aircraft struggle to keep their planes airworthy due to a lack of spares due to the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Although parts are known to have got through to Russia in the past by way of smuggling, carriers in the country are finding it increasingly hard to keep their planes flying safely with large numbers of planes thought to be grounded as a result.
ATO.ru also reported that in October 2023, at a meeting between the Russian Secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and the Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Valentin Parmon, the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ITAM) transferred plasma spraying technology to BEMZ for the restoration of jet turbine blades. According to Patrushev, two other institutes in Novosibirsk are working on technologies for the treatment of possible microcracks on turbine fan blades.
According to ATO.ru, in December 2023, ITAM scientific director Vasily Fomin told the Russian news agency TASS that the technology and expertise had been transferred to BEMZ making it possible to restore burnt and cracked blades for Airbus and Boeing aircraft engines.
“I noted Patrushev’s special interest in these works, since foreign aircraft continue to make up the lion’s share of our aircraft fleet, and their wear and tear, especially of power plants, increases every year without the possibility of direct purchases of spare parts and branded service,” Fomin is reported as saying.
The main airline within the Group, S7 Airlines is currently still operating large numbers of Western aircraft manufactured by both Airbus and Boeing, despite the international sanctions in place. According to ch-aviation, S7 operates 68 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 19 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, although many of these are listed as inactive, possibly due to a lack of spares and other maintenance issues.
Meanwhile, S7 Group’s primary maintenance provider, S7 Technics, has previously stated publicly that it maintains a workshop that specializes in major repairs and overhauls of CFM engines used on both aircraft family types. According to a recent S7 Technics statement, the company has so far completed the overhauls of 12 CFM56 engines.
Overall, Russian airlines are thought to have around 800 individual CFM56 jet engines still at their disposal within the country, although the exact number of how many are serviceable remains unclear. In addition to engine blades, BEMZ is known to produce other spare parts for aircraft, as confirmed by the plant’s general director Vasily Yurchenko at the company’s 65th anniversary event.
