Mikhail Simonov

MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail Simonov, one of Russia's top aircraft designers and creator of the famous Sukhoi fighter jets, has died. He was 81.

Simonov died in Moscow on Friday, said Sukhoi company's spokesman Sergei Meshcheryakov. He wouldn't specify the cause of Simonov's death, but said he died after a long illness.

A former Russian air force chief lamented Simonov's death as an "irreparable loss."

Simonov started working as an aviation engineer in the 1950s, and joined the Sukhoi design bureau as a deputy chief designer in 1970. During the following nine years he led the development of the Su-24, the Su-25 and the Su-27 combat jets.

After serving as deputy minister of aircraft industries in 1979-1983, he was named the top Sukhoi designer and continued work on the Su-27 that became the Soviet Union's best fighter plane.

When state defense orders drained after the 1991 Soviet collapse, Simonov played a key role in winning lucrative contracts to sell Su-27s to China, India and other foreign customers.

Former Russian air force chief, retired Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, praised Simonov for keeping the Sukhoi company afloat at a time when most other Russian aircraft makers have struggled to survive.

"During that difficult period, he managed to organize export sales that saved the Sukhoi design bureau and its production facilities," Mikhailov said on Rossiya 24 television. "His death is irreparable loss for the Russian aviation."

The Su-27, developed to counter the U.S. F-15 fighter, has remained a mainstay of the Russian air force after the Soviet collapse. The Sukhoi design bureau has developed a broad range of its modifications, and hundreds have been sold to China and India under contracts worth billions of dollars.

Magomed Tolboyev, a highly decorated former Sukhoi test pilot, praised Simonov as a "brilliant designer." "He trusted the pilots and had a very good attitude to our work," he said.

Simonov received a Lenin prize and two state prizes along with the Order of the Red Banner during the Soviet times, and was awarded with the Hero of Russia medal in 1999.

The company spokesman said Simonov is to be buried on Sunday at Moscow's most prestigious Novodevichy cemetery.


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