Russia’s UAC tests GigaChat for aircraft design

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is experimenting with Sberbank’s GigaChat AI model to help engineers explore aircraft designs, according to a report by TechRadar. UAC has not named the aircraft involved or announced a timetable. It has also not said that the experiment is tied to a project intended to rival the US F-22.

The initial work explores possible configurations before detailed engineering. Structural strength assessments and aerodynamic calculations are potential future uses, but are outside the experiment’s current scope. UAC general designer Sergey Korotkov said AI tools should be considered where engineering needs justify them. TechRadar attributed a separate comment about using larger samples to “specialists at United Aircraft Corporation.”

UAC makes the Su-57 and Su-35 fighter aircraft and the MC21 passenger jet. The report says the MC21 is undergoing component substitution, and UAC has not disclosed whether GigaChat is used in any of those programs or whether the experiment has a military purpose.

After major engineering software suppliers including Dassault Systèmes, Siemens and Autodesk withdrew from Russia following the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, UAC introduced domestic alternatives on about 4,000 engineering computers and replaced nine modules used to manage aircraft development information. UAC has reported that digital methods shortened some hydraulic-system and cabin-temperature calculations from months to days; the report says those improvements have not been independently verified.

The MC21 has also faced delays during the switch to Russian-made components. Vladimir Putin said in June that the program was almost two years behind schedule, with wing issues accounting for part of the delay. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov later set late 2027 as the expected certification date for an all-Russian-components version.