Russian Glonass is made of foreign parts
27.02.2008 12:16

According to the general director of the Research Institute of Space Equipment (NII KP) Yuri Korolev the receiver developed by the institute for Glonass and GPS at the request of the government has only one part made in Russia. This is antennae. The rest, including plastic, is made abroad. Russia had to import even packaging for the product from Korea. Now the institute makes a 1000 receivers a month (it does not bring profit) and prepares the automatic line which will allow for making 450 thousand navigators a year. According to Korolev Russian electronic industry does not make the elements necessary for such devices. "We are at the stage when it is necessary for the institute to print the platforms for the antennas itself, using clay from Gzhel and other materials. It is good to make pots of this clay, but it not the radio-electronic one, however, at present we do not have anything else. For years we wait when Rosprom will give us the elementary base. But even the conditions for the appearance of this elementary base are not created. There are no the enterprises suggesting exceptionally pure silicon and chemical materials. We developed half of the federal program. But when it is about distributing the budget money other organizations came up". NII KP tried to participate in the tenders on the development of civil products within the frameworks of the federal target program Glonass having submitted applications on 21 themes, but none was accepted.

The above information coincided with the statement of the press-secretary of Rosprom Oleg Ryazantsev, who said that the GLONASS receivers under the state order for river, sea vessels and geodetic are already available, they can be made serially. As for the navigators for individual consumers now the industry is actively working on the designs and this year it will be ready for serial production. Ryazantsev also noted that there are preconditions for improving the elementary base. Zelenograd based "Micron" is introducing the technologies of assembling chips with the topological size of 0,18 micron. However, NII KP is skeptocal about these developments. NII KP believes that Russia needs the technologies of at least 0,11 micron. According to the Russian federal target program "Development of the electronic components base and radio electronics for 2008-2015" the level of 0,09 micron will be reached in Russia not earlier than 2011. (Intel had it in 2005).

News source: ShipbuildingRu
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