Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to establish a joint aviation enterprise with Belarusian specialists as part of deepening industrial cooperation between the two countries. The announcement was made during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Volgograd, reports Vedomosti on April 29.

Putin said the initiative would include collaborative work in aircraft manufacturing, specifically in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles and medium-haul aircraft. “We are ready to lay the foundation of the plant together with your specialists and the corresponding laboratory for unmanned aircraft. This is very important, first of all, for the economy, and for logistics,” he stated.

The aviation sector in Russia faced severe sanctions following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which targeted major Russian airlines and their executives. In addition, Boeing and Airbus suspended the delivery of spare parts to Russia and halted maintenance and support services for Russian airlines' aircraft. These restrictions also led to the termination of leasing contracts.

Despite Russia's heavy reliance on China for advanced machinery imports, its tech is still far behind that of the West. This venture into the aviation industry is likely an attempt to become more self-sufficient and patch some of the holes in their planes left there by sanctions.

"We agreed that we would expand industrial cooperation, including on account of the joint effort in the sphere of aviation engineering, aviation industry," Putin said. "We are ready thus far to establish a plant together with your specialists, a relevant drone laboratory," he noted, reports TASS on April 29.

The additional production of unmanned aircrafts, or drones, is also a powerful weapon of war, as Russia has used drones in the war with Ukraine to staggering effect.

The Russian president also noted Belarus’s role in maintaining parts of the former Soviet Union’s aviation industry, positioning the country as a valuable partner in future aerospace ventures. “One of the areas for joint cooperation could be cooperation on medium-haul aircraft,” he added.

The USSR was widely respected for its military aviation industry. It was known for building affordable, robust planes such as the MiG-21 and the MiG-29, which were seen as cost-effective alternatives to western fighter jets.

While western companies such as Boeing and Lockheed use more modular and decentralised supply chains, with greater focus on innovation, customer input and competitive timelines, the USSRs focus scale, centralisation and standardisation allowed them to produce bulk quantities of rugged, functional aircraft at high speed when needed.

Despite the USSR’s focus on quantity over quality they still made notable innovations including the world’s first supersonic transport aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 (which flew before the Concorde, though it had a much shorter service life).

During this time Belarus played a specialised and important role, contributing primarily through high-precision manufacturing, electronic systems and component supply rather than large-scale final aircraft assembly, garnering them a reputation for advanced mechanical engineering, precision instruments and electronics.

The design and production of flight instruments and communications gear often took place in Belarus, particularly in factories in Minsk and Baranovichi, reinforcing the country’s role as a technological supplier within the aviation complex.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, key enterprises such as the Baranovichi Aircraft Repair Plant (558 ARZ) continued to operate, primarily servicing legacy Soviet aircraft still in use across the region. 

Belarus also preserved valuable technical documentation and manufacturing expertise, which has remained attractive to Russia in recent years, in particular its retained capacity for maintenance, component production, and possibly even future assembly of medium-haul or unmanned aircraft.

Putin indicated that discussions with Lukashenko would extend to other areas of bilateral cooperation, although further details were not disclosed during the meeting.

The two leaders met in Volgograd as part of commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Second World War. During the visit, they laid wreaths at the Hall of Military Glory on Mamayev Kurgan and paid tribute at the Eternal Flame in honour of fallen soldiers.

Following the memorial events, both presidents participated in the international forum Great Heritage – Common Future, which was hosted by the parliamentary assembly of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. At the forum, Putin proposed establishing a new commission on historical memory under the assembly’s auspices.

The proposed commission would focus on “protecting the truth about the Great Patriotic War and the feat of the Soviet people,” according to Putin.