At the international industrial exhibition Innoprom-2024, held in Yekaterinburg, an agreement on consolidation of the private company Reynolds LLC and the United Engine Corporation was signed. The main goal of the co-operation is the development and serial production of domestic small-size gas turbine engines with thrust up to 200 kgf for use in unmanned aerial vehicles. This was reported in the press service of ODK.
The document was signed by Vadim Badekha, General Director of JSC “UEC” and Nikita Gusev and Nikita Korolev, founders of Reynolds LLC. The agreement provides for the fulfilment of merger activities, including the completion of all corporate and legal procedures by the end of this year. Nikita Gusev will continue to act as General Director of Reynolds within UEC, and Nikita Korolev will remain at Reynolds as General Designer.
Vadim Badekha noted that joint efforts will allow to quickly and efficiently bring to the market a line of engines with thrust of 20, 40, 60, 100 and 150 kgf, with up-to-date technical characteristics and competitive price. Optimisation of overheads and the organisation of specialised manufacturing will contribute to the achievement of these goals.
Reynolds Ltd has been developing turbojet engines and turbogenerators in the 40 to 150 kgf thrust class since 2017. During this period, the company has gathered and tested all the necessary competences for the development of engines and units, as well as methodologies for their testing and operation. Nikita Korolev noted that the company has applied approaches to the design of structures and assemblies that have shown to be effective, which has enabled it to achieve good performance indicators for turbojet engines in the 50-70 kgf thrust class and to create an integrated turbogenerator for onboard power generation.
The next step for Reynolds LLC will be to put the products into mass production within the framework of the association with UEC. Nikita Korolev noted that this process will not be without difficulties, as private and state-owned companies have been in different “worlds” for a long time and have not crossed paths. Nevertheless, such co-operation provides opportunities for finding new solutions and overcoming existing barriers.
