The Big Picture: Russia's civilian-military transformation

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Some 30 years ago, aircraft engine factory Saturn was a showcase of Soviet pride and technological glory. But 25 years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed, Saturn fell to its lowest production point, just like hundreds of other military equipment producers in that country.

Saturn’s entire production was based on only one engine – the Solovyev D-30, which is used for some military and a handful of civilian jets. As the Soviet military collapsed and the newly born Russian army struggled with an economic crisis, the orders for new engines spiraled to the rock bottom. Saturn was struggling to survive.

Viktor Polyakov, Saturn’s deputy general manager witnessed those hard times and decided that something needed to change.

“We realized the D-30 engine was steadily becoming obsolete and that we need to engage in all engine fields, not just military ones. So we started developing generators, engines for ships, the SaM-146 civilian engine. The conversion started here in Saturn, not today, but 15 years ago," said Polyakov.

Viktor Polyakov (C), Saturn’s deputy general manager, talks about the hard times and how the company struggled to transform. /CGTN Photo

It took almost 15 years for Russia and Saturn to wake up from the nightmare and save the factory and thousands of jobs in the Russian town of Rybinsk.

Their first step was to start diversification and expand into civilian projects. Together with French aircraft engine producer Safran, Saturn started a joint venture to produce the SaM-146 engine for the civilian Sukhoi SSJ-100 aircraft. It was a first major step into a new and unexplored area for them.

New projects followed. Saturn also helped produce the latest European LEAP engine for the super modern Airbus A320 NEO. At that time, they were producing 15 percent of the parts, by 2018 they will produce one quarter of the engine. Now almost half of Saturn’s production is for civilian purposes and solely relying on military purchases is a thing of the past.

Saturn helps to prode several engine lines including the latest European LEAP for the super modern Airbus A320 NEO. /CGTN Photo

Saturn’s military-civilian conversion is within the Russian government target set for 2020 that requires all companies from the military-industrial complex to dedicate at least half of their production to civilian uses.

The need grew out of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of its army. People needed refrigerators and washing machines, not tanks and guns, and the industry couldn’t provide those products.

The people running Russia's military-industrial complex took that as a lesson.

Head of Civilian-Military Conversion of Russian state arms monopoly Rostec, Vasiliy Brovko explained why the entire Russian military-industrial complex had to go through the conversion process:

“The military industry accumulated a huge scientific and technological knowledge base. These technologies are fundamental ones and cover a number of different areas. And not to use that scientific potential in civil areas would be senseless. It's the process of so-called convergency, when the products and technologies developed for the military are in the second phase commercialized for civilian use.”

A worker operating a machine in Saturn's factory. /CGTN Photo

And in the new environment, the role of privately held enterprises has risen to new levels.

The SHERP is one of the best examples, noted as either the strangest looking or the best all road vehicle in the world. The Russian Ministry for Emergencies is among the buyers of the SHERP, while the military is also seriously considering acquiring this vehicle.

Like SHERP, the government wants to see as many civilian enterprises creating dual-market products. The concept has been successful in the US for more than 10 years and Russia is the only other country to start implementing it.

The Russians have done their homework. And they're hoping that by 2020, their military-related economy will look very, very different.

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