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On October 5, a loud noise over Zaporozhye, a FAB-1500 missile ripped over the factory in Madagascar.。 In just a few seconds, Ukraine's former most important engine factory was blown to scorched earth.
Dozens of core factories collapsed, the fire spread for hours but no one was rescued.The last line in the factory that could still produce Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopter parts was completely shattered, even the drone workshop that had just begun could not survive.
Russia later announced that "the target has been completely destroyed." Uzbekistan also did not deny it, admitting that the entire Madasic production system was paralyzed and its aerospace power capabilities were completely suspended. This is not a matter of the shutdown of a certain project, but a collective shock to Ukraine's aviation manufacturing capabilities. From the technology left behind by the Soviet Union to the ashes of today's factories, a generation's efforts have been broken in this explosion.
Motor Sich used to be the most valuable card in Ukrainian hands。The factory was built in 1907, earlier than the Soviet Union. Later, it specialized in providing power systems for Mi-8, Mi-26 helicopters and heavy transport aircraft such as An-124. It was once called the "Power Tsar". Before 2014, Russia itself would import engines from here, TV3-117, D-18T, AI-450S, these models, even the Russians can not make a replacement.
The problem was after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although Ukraine has acquired the factory, it has no supporting system. After the Crimean crisis in 2014, Russia-Ukraine relations deteriorated rapidly, and Motor Sich lost its biggest customer. Orders were cut off, funds were tight, and layoffs were frequent. The most brilliant factories were almost listed for auction.
In 2016, China company Tianjiao Airlines stepped in and prepared to buy a 56% stake in Madasic for US$250 million, also promised to invest another 550 million within two years, and the negotiating table is almost about to sign. But the Ukrainian Antitrust Committee suddenly stepped in.
Originally, the Chinese side used several offshore companies to operate share transfers, the Ukrainian National Security Bureau was concerned about the loss of assets, and the joint court froze the transactions. Behind all this, is the shadow of the United States. For the United States, when the technology of Madashi is mastered by China, China's breakthrough in helicopters and drones is a matter of time.
China's arbitration and protests did not change the end. In November 2021, the Ukrainian government simply issued a wartime decree to nationalize Motor Sich。The official term is "to meet urgent national defense needs," which is essentially blocking the acquisition channel of China.
As a result, China lost all its money and invested more than US$300 million in water. What is even more embarrassing is that China companies once filed a lawsuit with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, demanding compensation of US$4.5 billion from Ukraine. However, as the war broke out, all legal channels became useless.
But do you think this "state-owned enterprise" is loyal to the national interests? From 2017 to 2019, Motor Sich actually exported more than US $250 million in engine parts to Russia through a transit company located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It stands to reason that Ukraine has long banned military trade with Russia Currently, money is like money.This also illustrates a problem. While the Ukrainian government shouts "national assets first", it is unable to control its wartime enterprises.
Ironically, when the real war started, Motor Sich failed to hold up a glimmer of hope for Ukraine. After 2022, the Russian army launched at least more than a dozen strikes against the factory. Missiles, drones, and flying bombs are in turn.
In August 2023, the toughest, crashed and caliber cruise missile directly targeted the core workshop. Foreign media noted that the attack in addition to striking Ukraine, there is another level of meaning - to Turkey "warn."Because the Turkish "Arkinch" drone used TEI engine, its prototype was the AI-450 of Madagascar.
For Russia, these industrial heritage in Ukraine are no ordinary targets. Madassić was not an ordinary factory, but an important part of the Soviet aviation industry. During the Soviet era, it, along with factories such as Kazan, Ufa and Perm, supported the entire military-industrial system of Eastern Europe.Now these legacies are in the hands of Ukraine, but Ukraine has turned to the West, which is "betrayal" in the eyes of Russians.
The Russian army's destruction of Madasic was not only a military strike after another, but also a revenge against history. They want Ukraine to no longer build aircraft that can threaten Russia, nor to serve as an "outpost factory" for NATO.
This “deindustrialization” policy is cold-blooded, but logical.Once Madrasic is lost, the Ukrainian aircraft industry system is as if removed from the backbone, and it is difficult to start again by relying on the West’s “blood transfusion”.
The complete destruction of Madrasic led not only to the collapse of one enterprise, but to the collapse of the entire Ukrainian aviation industry.。It only took less than ten years to fall from the peak. In the past ten years, Ukraine has neither stabilized its cooperation with Russia nor maintained its capital cooperation with China. Instead, it has retained none of its technology, market, and capital.
Ukraine has tried to transform with Western arms traders, such as the introduction of European-American electronic systems and Western platform standards, but what really lacks is a "heart" like TV3-117 that can fly up the sky.
Now standing in front of the ruins of the factory, there is only a mess and endless sigh leftOnce those designs of drawings, overall platforms, the crafts of old technicians, were buried in the rubble.
Ukraine's proud "gold age of aviation" has declared its end, even with the dream of a generation of engineers buried together. , the honorary exhibition hall, and old photos have now turned to dust, and even the memories are bitter.
Once the glory, the enemy is not precisely guided by modern warfare. A century-old enterprise, drowned in the war and the game, left only a heavy sigh. and behind it, not only the loss of technology, but also a collapse of the country's manufacturing capacity.
Who will rebuild in the future? No one knows. But what is certain is that The end of Madagascar will be one of the most painful in modern Ukrainian industrial history.
References:
"Ukraine wants to nationalize Chinese-owned Chinese companies, Zhao Lijian: Requires Ukraine to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies in accordance with the law" March 12, 2021 Source: Global Times
"Important military enterprises in Ukraine were bombed" January 10, 2025 Source: Xinhuanet