Russian spy plane production to be restarted while Myasishchev looks for new markets for the aircraft

Published: 1/4/2000

Myasishchev designer Leonid Sokolov has announced that the Russian MoD have committed funds to the completion of another M-55 Geophysica single seat high altitude reconnaissance/research aircraft at the Smolensk Aviation Plant. One aircraft will be completed according to Sokolov out of the five aircraft which have been built but remain uncompleted under a Russian naval aviation programme which was terminated in 1994 due to lack of funds after starting in 1988. The M-55 has been adapted by Myasishchev, for the Airborne Polar Experiment-Geophysica Aircraft in Antartica (APE-GAIA) in a €10m project funded by the European Union and a number of other European countries under the auspices of the Italian Antartic Research Programme. The project leased the aircraft for a series of flights in September and October 1999 for a series of research flights from Argentina checking the ozone level above Antartica . Myasishchev as a result of its experience on this project has suggested that with an upgrade costing $200,000, the M-55 has a potential market among those European countries involved in upper atmosphere research. It is therefore planned to test the aircraft in Italy in the second quarter to demonstrate its capabilities and build upon the exposure of the Antartica flights. The twin engined M-55 is considered to be a more flexible vehicle than the US ER-2, a modified U-2 spy plane, as it carries more equipment allowing both sampling of the air around the vehicle and use of remote sensing.

Article ID: 1268