Kraków 2022-11-03
Equipment of the Tupolev Tu-154 M nb 101 aircraft.
The last renovation of the Tu-154 M nb 101.
According to the obtained certificate, the Tu-154 M Lux aircraft could be operated for 18 years. This time has come to an end. On January 5, 2009. Tu-154 M Lux nb 101 has exhausted its service life. Tu-154 M Lux nb 102 twelve months later. The difficult financial situation of the country and other substantive reasons prevented the purchase of new machines for VIPs by 2009. The previous tenders, and there were 6 of them, and in the years 1991-2009, were canceled, although the committee selected a potential winner.
In such a situation, the Ministry of National Defense had no other option but to renovate them and operate them further. However, as it turned out, it was a tragic solution. A competition has been announced for the renovation, which will enable the extension of operation by at least 5 years. The nb 101 aircraft is scheduled for renovation in 2009, and the nb 102 in 2010.
Is renovation profitable? The answer to this question is difficult. We can find several facts supporting the thesis that renovation and partial modernization is unprofitable. The problem, however, was that when the next tenders for new aircraft were announced, the currant was placed extremely high. The number of new machines alone reached 7. The range of at least 9,000 kilometers was shown. There was talk of self-defense systems. Even the planes of many much richer countries in the world do not meet such criteria. The effect of this in the future will be a situation opposite to the one that prevailed in the Polish People's Republic, when the 36 SPLTr handed over planes to LOT Polish Airlines. And now it is the government that will borrow planes from LOT.
The tender procedure was launched on February 11, 2009. Preliminary bids on February 26, 2009. have submitted MAW Telecom Intl. and Polit-Elektronik, Metalexport-S and Bumar. The DZSZ MON Committee decided that only the first offer meets the requirements of the tender. Bumar's offer was disqualified, and Metalexport-S was asked to supplement the documents and provide explanations. Finally, on March 5, 2009. his offer was also disqualified. Final offer (with the price of the service) MAW Telecom Intl. and Polit-Elektronik was submitted on March 9, 2009. and elected on April 7, 2009. According to the tender, the planes are to be renovated and modernized in two rounds, the first in 2009, the second in the first half of 2010.
Until recently, the repairs of two Polish special aircraft were commissioned to the WARS-400 company from Wnuków near Moscow, which specializes in this type of order. Having full Tu-154 renovation documentation, as well as licensed experts who dealt with, among others, with additional modern avionic equipment of Western production. The Vnukowo plant is located at the Vnukovo Airport, approximately 30 km south-west of the center of Moscow. Vnukovo airport is the oldest of the three civilian-military airports in Moscow.
Aviacor Aviation Works from Samara (until 1991 Kujbyszew). The plant name is also spelled like; Aviakar or Aviator. These plants are the manufacturer of almost all Tu type aircraft, including Tu-95 bombers and, of course, Tu-154. Since the production of Tu in Russia planes in the 1990s collapsed, the plant started overhauls. The plant is renovating airplanes, incl. for the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The current president of the company, Alexei Gusev, several years ago was responsible as an engineer for handing over the Tu-154 M to the Polish side.
MAW Telecom International and Polit-Elektronik (representative of the Russian industry) took the obligation by accepting the terms of the tender, signing a contract worth as much as PLN 69.637 million with the Ministry of Supply of the Armed Forces of the Ministry of National Defense. The contract covers the major overhaul and extension of the technical service life and modification of both governmental Tu-154 M Lux, overhaul of 8 D-30 KU-II engines, major overhaul of the TA-6 A engine and overhaul of spare units from aircraft technical first aid kits. This will extend the operation of the aircraft by another 5 years. On May 20, 2009 Tu-154 M Lux nb 101 flew to the plant in Samara (until 1991 it was called Kuybyshev).
The plant in Samara had the appropriate certificates for the overhaul of Tu type aircraft. However, it is not known whether he had the appropriate specialists who could properly combine modern Yankee-made devices with other equipment. And now the icing on the cake. The repair of Polish machines has been insured for the amount of PLN 50 million. If the disaster happened due to a faulty renovation, the plant would have to pay compensation. This would probably lead to the plant's collapse. Further - the plant, defending itself, could point to defects in the MAK institution, which issued the appropriate certificates to the plant and make them jointly responsible and co-paying. And MAK is already a zone of operation of the security services (KGB). I write about MAK itself in the next chapter. Let me remind you that twice in relation to the Republic of Poland (1980 and 1987), Russia suffered severe losses in connection with the catastrophes. I believe that the Kremlin will do everything possible not to show the machine's faults. So, up to three times art.
The renovation in Samara started in May 2009 and was completed in December 2009. After returning to Poland, after renovation, which took place on December 23, 2009, the plane underwent a series of tests to check its technical condition, in accordance with the procedures in force in the 36 SPLTr. Only after them, when it obtained positive results, was it allowed to fly as a government plane. At the time of the crash, the repaired plane was only 142 hours away.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman