ICAR (formerly Airbus Engineering Center in Russia)

History

2024: AFK Sistema has created on the basis of the Airbus engineering center a new group of companies with an authorized capital of 1 billion rubles. She took up UAVs

On May 25, 2024, AFK Sistema formed an ICAR group of companies on the basis of the Airbus engineering center with an authorized capital of 1 billion rubles. The new structure will be engaged in the design and production of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

ICAR was registered in 2002 as a joint venture between one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial aircraft Airbus and the Kaskol investment group. ICAR became the first design bureau established by Airbus outside the European Union. Since 2022, the only shareholder of ICAR is AFK Sistema, and since 2023, the organization has been developing and mass-producing drones.

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According to RIA Novosti, Boris Bogomolov, general director of the ICAR Engineering Center, has been appointed president of the established ICAR group of companies. The group includes design and engineering bureaus, a test center and the production of civilian unmanned aircraft systems located on the territory of the special economic zone "Technopolice Moscow."

The ICAR group of companies was created on the basis of the Airbus engineering center in 2024. This is an engineering and production holding, which is a center for the development and production of aircraft systems and components, as well as an expert in the field of engineering and design work for 20 years, - said AFK Sistema.

The ICAR website says that in July 2016 the company was issued a license to develop, produce, test and repair aircraft. When creating devices, mathematical modeling technologies are used. The ICAR sites are said to have installed modern equipment for the design and production of drones.^[1]

2017: Airbus ECAR Engineering Center 15 years, 120 projects, 200 employees

At the opening stage, about 25 engineers worked at the center, in 2018 more than 200 specialists work here. All ECAR engineers are fully integrated into the Airbus design office and regularly undergo training at the company's plants in Toulouse and Hamburg. ECAR also actively cooperates with Russian design bureaus and companies.

Over the 15 years of the engineering center, over 120 projects have been implemented under the A320/A320neo, A330/A340, A350 and A380 programs. The ECAR's remit includes work such as designing the power structure and systems of Airbus aircraft, calculations for static and fatigue strength, resistance to damage, and support for mass production.

Among the achievements of the center in recent years, it is worth noting the participation of ECAR in the A330F cargo aircraft development program, where Russian engineers have completed over 80% of all design work. Thanks to the accurate calculations of ECAR specialists, it was possible to reduce the real weight of the power structure by 1 ton, which, in turn, made it possible to increase the commercial load of the aircraft. An important stage was also ECAR's participation in the XWB A350 program. The specifics of these works consisted in the use of completely new methods for strength calculations, the creation of interface drawings and main assemblies, which is due to the wide use of composite materials in the aircraft design. In the course of work on the XWB A350 program, Russian engineers performed all design and strength calculations for the tail section of the fuselage, cargo floor, modules for installing systems and the interior of the aircraft interior. It is noteworthy that within the framework of this project, the center's specialists received two patents for inventions.

ECAR completed the project for the A330neo wide-body aircraft remotorization program, under which the engineering center was responsible for the development of a new fuselage design, static and fatigue strength tests, and the preparation of strength certification reports. At the moment, Russian specialists of the center are working on a A330 program with an increased maximum take-off weight, A350-900/1000, and also provide support for serial production under the A320 and A330 programs.

2003

The center was established in Moscow in March 2003 as a joint venture between Airbus and the Kaskol group of companies and became the first design bureau established by Airbus in Europe outside its member countries.

ECAR Engineering Center (Engineering Center of Airbus in Russia), specializing in aircraft engineering. ECAR Engineering Center is a Russian company founded by Airbus and the Kaskol Group of Companies, a design bureau created by Airbus in Europe outside its participating countries. The center began operations in March 2003. ECAR designs and designs Airbus aircraft, and conducts scientific research in this area.

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