Russia's United Aircraft Corporation is experimenting with Sberbank's GigaChat AI model to assist engineers developing future military and civilian aircraft. The initiative could eventually support work on advanced fighter jets, although UAC has not identified any project intended to challenge America's F-22. With its aerospace industry facing Western technology restrictions, Moscow is increasingly relying on domestically developed software for aircraft engineering and development.
This project remains in its experimental phase, with UAC yet to announce a development timetable or identify the aircraft involved in the initiative. The initiative employs GigaChat, a large language model developed by Russia's largest bank, to explore possible configurations before detailed engineering begins. Engineers could eventually apply the technology to structural strength assessments and aerodynamic computations, although those capabilities are beyond the scope of the initial experiment.
Following the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, major engineering software suppliers withdrew operations, disrupting access to established aerospace development platforms. Among the departing vendors were Dassault Systèmes, Siemens and Autodesk, whose engineering applications had supported Russian aviation manufacturers for several decades. To reduce dependence on these suppliers, UAC introduced locally developed alternatives across approximately 4,000 engineering computers at its aircraft design facilities.
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