Aircraft industry in Russia

The aircraft industry in Russia is a significant industrial sector in the country, employing 355,000 - 400,000 people.

The Russian aviation industry is largely state-owned and centrally controlled, with little strategic private competition. As of 2025, the majority of both military and civil production is held by three large joint stock corporations under the State Corporation "Rostec" conglomerate. United Aircraft Corporation engages in the production of both military and civil aircraft, Russian Helicopters with a variety of helicopters, and United Engine Corporation producing aircraft, marine and industrial engines.

The Russian and Soviet aerospace industry has made many important contributions to the history of aircraft. Achievements include the second operational jetliner in service (Tupolev Tu-104) (the only jetliner from 1956 to 1958 when the British de Havilland Comet was grounded), the world's first commercial supersonic transport aircraft (Tupolev Tu-144), the largest spacecraft to remotely orbit and land (Buran), worlds largest aircraft (Antonov An-225) the fastest manned serially produced aircraft in operational use, and offered for civilian flights (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25), the first use of 3 dimensional thrust vectoring on a combat aircraft (Sukhoi Su-37), the worlds most-produced helicopter (Mil Mi-8/Mil Mi-17), the worlds largest operational helicopter (Mil Mi-26) and the first operation combat helicopter equipped with a crew ejection system (Kamov Ka-50).

The Russian aviation industry underwent an unprecedented collapse following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Once a world leader in aircraft design and production, the industry experienced a near-total contraction in the Yeltsin era as a result of fragmented supply chains, loss of centralised funding and loss of export markets, resulting in a contraction of the workforce and emigration of engineers. Well recognised former state design bureaus such as Tupolev and Ilyushin faced bankruptcy, and the production of aircraft was effectively halted. This situation was made worse by the 1998 Russian financial crisis.

In 2006, the Russian government forced the United Aircraft Corporation, merging the remaining assets of various companies under the majority stake of the government. A similar venture, Russian Helicopters, consolidated helicopter production. Contracts signed with partners such as India and China provided critical cash flow. As a result, the production of military aircraft began to recover, with large scale production of several existing and new models such as the Su-34, Su-35, Su-57 and Yak-130 underway.

The current goal of the Russian aerospace industry is to revive large scale civil passenger aircraft manufacturing. Due to the challenges posed by international sanctions, offerings such as the Ilyushin Il-114, Yakovlev SJ-100 and Yakovlev MC-21 focus on self-sufficiency and import substitution.