85 Years of Aviation Excellence: The History of the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant ‘LDARZ’

On October 15, the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant "LDARZ" celebrated its 85th anniversary. On that day in 1939, based on the hangars of the former 6th repair base of the Polish Air Force, the 133rd stationary aviation workshops were established in Lviv.

By the summer of 1941, the workshops had mastered the repair of captured Polish aircraft and engines, as well as Soviet aviation equipment, including the I-153 and I-16 fighter planes. After Germany's attack on the USSR, the workshops were evacuated first to Poltava, and then to the Penza region. Starting in September 1944, the workshops returned to Lviv in three separate trains.

Between 1946 and 1953, the enterprise changed its name twice: first to the 272nd, then to the 352nd aviation repair base. During the first 14 years of its history, the plant carried out repairs on 16 types of piston aircraft, including the La-9 and Yak-9 fighters, the Il-10 ground attack aircraft, and the Tu-2 bomber.

On October 1, 1953, the repair base was reorganized into the 117th Aviation Repair Plant (ARP), which began servicing the MiG-15 jet fighter. From that time, the repair and maintenance of MiG aircraft became the company's main specialization. In particular, the Lviv ARP worked on the legendary MiG-21.

In 1979, the plant began servicing all variants of the MiG-23 and MiG-27, and in 1983, it began upgrading the MiG-27 to the MiG-27D level. In 1989, the company completed the repair of its 10,000th jet aircraft.

In 1992, the plant was granted the status of a State Enterprise under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and was renamed the "Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant ‘LDARZ.’" That same year, the plant began servicing fourth-generation MiG-29 fighters. Later, the plant initiated a program for their modernization.

Following the start of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the plant suffered a heavy blow. On March 18, 2022, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi stated, "Several missiles hit the aviation repair plant. Its buildings were destroyed by the strikes. The plant's operations had been suspended in advance, so there were no human casualties."