Belarus plans to manufacture 12-seat light aircraft with Russian support - deputy PM

MINSK. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Belarus is preparing to manufacture a light 12-seat aircraft under an agreement with Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Pyotr Parkhomchik said in a statement.

"During the Belarusian prime minister's visit to Yekaterinburg [in July at the Innoprom 2023 exhibition], an agreement was signed. We plan to manufacture the LMS-401 12-seat light aircraft, and to acquire all the expertise for this. We are at the stage of developing the R&D work," Parkhomchik said on the ONT TV channel.

According to Parkhomchik, two Belarusian enterprises will participate in the project, Minsk Civil Aviation Plant No. 407 and 558th Aircraft Repair Plant in Baranovichi. Implementing the new project will require constructing additional production facilities at the enterprises in terms of machine processing and aircraft assembly, he added.

Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in July announced that Belarus would begin manufacturing a light twin-engine aircraft with the support of Russia.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has reported that the Russia-Belarus jointly manufactured aircraft is planned to be certified in 2027 and put into operation in 2028. According to Manturov, Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) and Baranovichi [558th Aircraft Repair Plant] will create the aircraft.