Late December 2024, the Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO) rolled out a new Tu-214 airliner, registered as RA-64535, manufactured for the russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The aircraft has already completed its first flight and has been relocated to belarus for painting.
According to the russian government’s plans, KAPO was supposed to produce 10 Tu-214 aircraft by the end of 2024. In reality, only this one was completed. Given that the Kazan aircraft plant also manufactures Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 bombers and produces the same Tu-214s for russian security forces, this shortfall indirectly reflects broader issues within russia’s military-industrial complex.
Read more: russia's Strategic Aviation Crisis: Failing Attempts to "Reproduce" the Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 at the Kazan Aviation Plant
Based on russian media reports, the previous Tu-214 rolled out of the Kazan factory in 2021 and was intended for the Federal Security Service (FSB) aviation fleet.
Although the Tu-214 is primarily a passenger jet, variants are produced for "special-purpose" roles within the russian government and law enforcement agencies. There are also dedicated military versions, such as the Tu-214R for electronic intelligence missions and the Tu-214ON for aerial surveillance under the Treaty on Open Skies, from which russia withdrew in 2021.
Under the current production plan, approved in April 2023, KAPO was expected to manufacture three Tu-214s in 2023 and another seven in 2024, with a long-term goal of producing 70 aircraft by 2030. Given the current pace, however, achieving this target appears highly unrealistic.
It might seem that KAPO, as one of the largest enterprises of the russian military-industrial complex (with a staff of 8,000 personnel), is simply prioritizing other projects over the secondary Tu-214, even though the production rates were already agreed upon at the highest level.
However, manufacturing of the main product, i.e. strategic bombers, is also falling behind the schedules. As Defense Express previously noted, during 2022–2023, KAPO advanced its "reproduction" program by assembling three Tu-160M bombers using pre-existing Soviet-era airframes. Yet, as of early 2025, these aircraft have still not been delivered to the russian Defense Ministry.
It is also worth noting that in December 2023, russia had planned to begin Tu-214 production in a workshop originally intended for the PAK DA program, an advanced bomber meant to replace the Tu-95MS and Tu-160.
Read more: russia Plans to Receive Four Tu-160 Bombers in 2025, Each Capable of Carrying 12 Missiles, But No New Aircraft Will Be Produced
