Russian Aircraft Maker UAC Tests Sberbank's GigaChat for Design Assistance
Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is reportedly testing Sberbank's large language model GigaChat to help explore aircraft configurations before detailed engineering begins, aiming to reduce reliance on withdrawn Western software.
According to TechRadar, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is experimenting with GigaChat, a large language model developed by Russia's largest bank Sberbank, to assist engineers in the preliminary design of future military and civilian aircraft. The project remains in its experimental phase, with UAC yet to announce a development timetable or identify specific aircraft involved.
In this scenario, GigaChat's primary role is to help explore possible aircraft configurations before detailed engineering begins. While the technology could theoretically be applied to structural strength assessments and aerodynamic computations in the future, those capabilities are beyond the scope of the current experiment. The initiative does not replace conventional engineering methods but aims to examine multiple configurations by processing information that would otherwise require extensive analysis.
This attempt occurs against the backdrop of Western technology restrictions facing Russia's aerospace industry. Since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, major engineering software suppliers including Dassault Systèmes, Siemens, and Autodesk withdrew operations from Russia. To reduce dependence on these suppliers, UAC has introduced locally developed alternatives across approximately 4,000 engineering computers at its aircraft design facilities and replaced nine essential modules responsible for managing aircraft development information.