February 28, 2006: Russia, noting the success of AirBus Industries in taking on the larger, and dominant American aircraft companies, has decided to merge its own aircraft companies into UABC (Unified Aircraft-Building Corp.) The new company would be largely (75 percent or more) state owned, and would manufacture military and civilian aircraft. Such a large company would be able to assemble the huge resources (billions of dollars and thousands of engineers) needed to develop, and efficiently produce, new aircraft designs. Russia sees itself as having a good position in the low end (at least price wise) of the market. Russian aircraft are also known for being more robust, and thus better suited to the needs of developing nations.