Motor Sich

History

In August 1907, politician, industrialist and Jewish community leader Hatskel Moznaim filed a petition with the Alexandrovsk City Duma for the establishment of an iron foundry and machine building plant. In 1908, the project was approved by the authorities of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate on the site of the former Taras Shevchenko fairgrounds, and construction began shortly after. By 1909, construction work was complete. In 1912, the H. and R. Moznaim Machine-Building Plant had 56 employees, and produced a variety of agricultural machinery. By 1914, the complex was valued at 367,786 rubles.

In December 1915, the plant was acquired by the Petrograd based Duflon, Konstantinovich and K (DEKA) amid increasing demand for aircraft engines as a result of the World War I. In September 1915, the plant entered into a contract to supply the Imperial Russian Air Service with engines, with additional production and administrative buildings built. Despite the ongoing war, equipment was able to be imported through Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk. By August 1916, production of the DEKA M-100 aircraft engine had been established, intended for use with the Ilya Muromets heavy bomber designed by Igor Sikorsky. A young Vladimir Klimov was involved in the design of the engine. Engines for Lebed and Antara aircraft were also produced. However, admit mounting economic chaos and revolutionary unrest, the plant effectively halted production by 1917. In 1918, the complex was nominally nationalised by the new Bolshevik government, but remained non-functional as a result of the Russian Civil War, with the city of Alexandrovsk changing eighteen times throughout the course of the war.

in 1920 the plant was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Glavkoavia under the name of GAZ No. 9. Two years later, the appendage "Bolshevik" was added. From 1917, it became known as the State Aircraft Plant No. 29. Following the death of Soviet aviator Pyotr Baranov in 1933, the plant was renamed in his honour. In 1923, preparations for the production of M-6 engines (a licensed derivative of the Hispano-Suiza 8Fb) began, in production from 1925 to 1932. In addition to aircraft, it powered the T-24 medium tank. Starting in 1929, Shvetsov M-11 five-cylinder radial engines were manufactured, followed in 1931 by the nine-cylinder Shvetsov M-22. In the 1930s, the licensed production and transfer of technical assistance of Gnome et Rhône aircraft engines began. Beginning in 1935, production of the fourteen-cylinder Tumansky M-85 began, followed by the upgraded M-86, M-87, M-88 and M-89. By early 1941, the expansion of the plant had been completed, located in three territories with a total area of 171,900 square meters.

With the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 and the rapid Nazi German blitzkreig into Ukraine, Plant No. 29 was evacuated to the east, with evacuation taking place until September 1941. The evacuated plant was integrated with No. 29 plant based in Omsk. The relocation from Zaporizhzhia to Omsk was a significant undertaking, with equipment packed into 1,056 railcars carrying over 2,000 metal-cutting and press machines, tooling, and approximately 18,500 personnel and their families. By November 1941, the first batch of Tumansky M-88 engines began, scaling to high rate production by January 1942.

2022 nationalisation

On 6 November 2022, the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used martial law to nationalise the company, stating that "Such steps, which are necessary for our country in conditions of war, are carried out in accordance with current laws and will help meet the urgent needs of our defense sector." Chinese company Skyrizon accused Ukraine of "unjustified plundering."