Despite controversy and a blocked takeover attempt by a state-owned Chinese company with close links to the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, Ukrainian aerospace company Motor Sich continues to court interest in the far east.
At the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai on Nov. 6, Motor Sich were allocated their own pavilion where they exhibited a number of different jet engines, turbofan and turboprop engines for planes and helicopters.
According to media reports from China, Motor Sich also “shared a joint stage” with Beijing Skyrizon Aviation: the Chinese firm that was blocked by the Ukrainian courts in September 2017 from acquiring a controlling stake in the Zaporizhia-based aerospace company.
At the time, Ukraine’s State Security Service, or SBU, launched a criminal investigation and made allegations of an “enemy plot” and “preparations for sabotage” before suggesting the courts freeze the reported $100 million acquisition of a 56 percent stake in Motor Sich.
Motor Sich, widely regarded as one of the world’s most important manufacturers of engines and engine parts for jet aircraft and helicopters, drew attention and praise from Chinese visitors to the exposition.
Chinese want Motor Sich technology
Many of the exhibition’s visitors were civil servants and military officials who have been tasked with the long-term challenge of overhauling the Chinese military, especially its air force and navy, bringing it to a level where it could stand against NATO.
One analytical report published by an anonymous and uncredited aviation analyst on the Guancha.cn outlet heaped praise on the Ukrainian hardware and suggested that China should prioritize the acquisition of more Motor Sich engines for the Chinese military.
The Ukrainian engines that were on display “can be directly applied to the L-15 advanced trainer (jet plane)… and (the other engines) can (be) applied to the helicopters and the KA-28/31 series helicopters that are currently heavily used by our military,” the analyst wrote, assessing the Ukrainian engines utility for the PLA.
The same analyst also writes that China has an opportunity to not only use the “outstanding” Ukrainian engines, but to “harness the technology” and improve them for usage in Chinese military aircraft from jet fighters to heavy transport carriers.
“If China succeeds in harnessing the technology of the D-436 [Motor Sich] turbofan engine, China will gain knowledge regarding three-shaft engines that has been accumulated in the Soviet Union for decades… and it will be an undoubted advantage for [our] aviation engine industry.”
“If we build upon the D-436 and modify it… then we will get an updated version of the D-18 turbofan engine with a large load. Two such engines would be enough to improve the Y-20 (heavy military transport) aircraft,” the analyst added.
“If we build upon the D-436 engine, we get the turbo-charged D-136 used in the famous heavy Mi-26 helicopter and in the An-70 military transport aircraft… thus, when mastering the production technology of the D-436, China gets knowledge of four modern engines,” he concluded.
China connection raises security concerns
Ukrainian as well as Pentagon officials have warned that Chinese interest and investment in Ukraine can be a double-edged sword with a potentially calamitous impact on Ukraine and its allies.
This summer, as reported by Kyiv Post, American defence officials were in the Ukrainian capital to deliver a warning that China wants to scoop up know-how by transferring Ukrainian manufacturing to China, importing defense industry production so it can be reverse-engineered and produced by the Chinese on a large-scale.
A high-ranking Pentagon source told Kyiv Post at the time: “The purpose (of the meetings) was to introduce concerns about Chinese investment in Ukraine, primarily from the defense perspective, but long term in terms of economic and industrial base issues for them to understand how the Chinese operate and that in the long run it’s going to hurt Ukraine.”
If the warning has been lost on the ears of companies such as Motor Sich, who are still flaunting their wares to the Chinese, it has been heard elsewhere.
On June 20, as parliament debated a new Law on National Security, Hanna Hopko – member of parliament and head of Ukraine’s Committee on Foreign Affairs – highlighted growing concerns over Beijing’s move into Ukraine’s aerospace industry. She said it was damaging to Ukraine and its NATO allies.
“It’s extraordinary that we would allow a strategic partner of Moscow to acquire such sensitive and unique technology,” she said. “It strikes not only at the security of Ukraine but also our key partners and allies around the world, particularly in Asia.”
But on June 25, the Ukrainian government instead signed a law that can result in a sharp increase in the import and export of weapons technology. Previously permitted only for state-owned companies, relaxation of the regulations means that private firms can now cash in on the Chinese export market too.
Ukraine’s other Asian allies, that Hanna Hopko spoke of, are certainly paying attention to Ukrainian-Chinese relations, especially if its trade that will benefit the regional ambitions of the People’s Liberation Army.
Masaru Tanaka, an expert from the Bank of Japan who’s currently an advisor to the Ukrainian government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, said Japan has strong concerns over Chinese interest in Ukrainian aerospace technology.
If the Chinese takeover of Motor Sich is to be pushed forward, despite the Ukrainian courts temporarily halting it, it must be stopped, according to Tanaka.
“Chinese entities are acquiring and buying sensitive technology from Ukraine that threatens Japan,” he told the Kyiv Post. “We must stop the deal… the G7 must stop the deal.”
Ukraine’s SBU are on the case and have referred the takeover, what they called “preparations for sabotage,” to the courts.
On details however, they are characteristically tight-lipped.
“We stopped this takeover on the grounds of national security,” said Vasyl Hrytsak, Head of the SBU, in a short comment to Kyiv Post on Oct. 8 at a security conference in London.
“It’s in the hands of the courts now,” he added.
