On February 7, 1906, Soviet aircraft designer Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was born. Since childhood, Antonov, who was fond of aviation, founded original school design and created 52 types of gliders and 22 types of aircraft, including the largest and most lifting in the world. His aircraft became sensations at international aerospace exhibitions, and Soviet Union recognized as a world leader in the aviation industry. On the occasion of the birthday of the outstanding aircraft designer, we decided to recall five of his most successful aircraft.

AN-2

This aircraft entered the Guinness Book of Records as the only aircraft in the world that has been in production for over 60 years. He won the fame of an exceptionally reliable and safe machine, the design of which saves people even in emergency situations. An-2 can land even on unprepared terrain without the help of ground navigation, is able to take off from any relatively flat field, and when the engine stops, the aircraft begins to glide. During the years of operation, the An-2 transported several hundred million passengers, millions of tons of cargo, processed more than a billion hectares of fields. It was for agricultural work during the period of mass sowing of fields with corn that An-2 received the popular name "maize". An-2 was an obligatory member of the Soviet Arctic and Antarctic research expeditions. In 1957, he landed on the tip of an iceberg for the first time.
The idea of ​​the future An-2 came to Oleg Antonov back in October 1940, at the same time, under his leadership, was developed preliminary design aircraft. Antonov's idea was that the created aircraft should take "in air transport approximately the place that a lorry takes in ground transport." The designer himself called the An-2 his own great luck. Production and operation of the aircraft began in 1948. By the beginning of the 1960s, the An-2 connected more than half of the regional centers of the USSR with local air lines. By 1977, these aircraft served 3254 settlements. In total, more than 18 thousand An-2s were built, the aircraft was produced in the USSR, Poland and continues to be produced in China. The plane has visited almost all corners of the globe. For the creation of the An-2, Antonov and his associates were awarded the State Prize of the USSR.

The An-6 was developed by Antonov in 1948 on the basis of the An-2, from which the An-6 externally differed by the presence of a meteorologist's cabin at the base of the keel. The aircraft was intended for high-altitude meteorological research and for use as a transport in high mountainous areas. An ASh-62R engine with a turbocharger was installed on the aircraft, allowing the engine to maintain power up to an altitude of 10,000 m. The aircraft was produced until 1958, in total several aircraft of this modification were built. It was on the An-6 on June 9, 1954 that the pilots V.A. Kalinin and V. Baklaikin in Kyiv set an altitude record for this class of aircraft - 11,248 m.

The development of the An-10 aircraft began in 1955 after a visit to the design bureau by the head of the USSR N.S. Khrushchev. In the course of a conversation with him, Antonov suggested creating a single four-engine aircraft, but in two versions: passenger and cargo. Khrushchev approved the concept, and the An-10 made its first flight on March 7, 1957. The An-10 was designed in such a way that in case of war it could be quickly rebuilt into a cargo aircraft. The aircraft became the first airliner in the USSR with a turboprop engine and was the first among such aircraft to be put into mass production. According to calculations, the An-10 at the end of the 50s was among the most profitable aircraft: the cost of transporting one passenger was significantly lower than on the Tu-104A, primarily due to the greater passenger capacity. In addition, there were only a few airports in the USSR capable of receiving a jet Tu. An-10, on the other hand, also had a combination of properties that is rare for a passenger liner: high speed flight and the ability to take off and land on unpaved and snow-covered airfields with a small runway. Given these features, Aeroflot operated the An-10 on short routes with poorly prepared and unpaved lanes. And the first flight of the Aeroflot An-10 took place on July 22, 1959 on the Moscow-Simferopol route.
Until 1960, 108 aircraft were produced.

The development of the An-14, a light twin-engine multi-purpose short takeoff and landing aircraft, nicknamed the "bee", began at the end of 1950. On March 14, 1958, the bee took to the skies for the first time. The aircraft had a wing span of 22 m and an area of ​​39.72 m2 with automatic and controlled slats, retractable flaps and hovering ailerons. Such a mechanized wing provided the aircraft with a steep takeoff and landing trajectory and stable gliding at low speeds. "Bee", even with its relatively large size, could take off and land on very small unpaved airfields. To take off in calm, it was enough for a strip 100-110 m long, with a headwind - even 60-70 m. The aircraft could reach a maximum speed of up to 200 km / h. With a maximum takeoff weight of 3750 kg, the An-14 lifted up to 720 kg into the air payload. "Bee" was used as a passenger, transport, communication, medical, agricultural aircraft. In the passenger version, six seats were placed in his cabin, the seventh passenger took a seat next to the pilot. Serial production of the An-14 began in 1965 in Arseniev, a total of 340 aircraft were built until 1970, mass operation continued until the early 80s.

An-22, nicknamed "Antey", marked a new step in aircraft construction - it became the world's first wide-body aircraft. In terms of its size, it surpassed everything that had been created in world aviation by that time. The English Times after the International Paris Air Show on June 15, 1965 wrote: "Thanks to this aircraft, the Soviet Union was ahead of all other countries in the aircraft industry." And the French newspaper Humanite, whose journalists expected to see the largest aircraft in the world as monstrous and shapeless, called the An-22 "elegant and thoroughbred, touching the ground very gently, without the slightest shaking."
"Antey" was created to transport oversized cargo weighing up to 50 thousand kg: intercontinental ballistic missiles, engineering and combat armored and unarmored vehicles on artificial and unpaved runways. With the advent of the An-22 in aviation, the problems of transporting various weapons and equipment in the Soviet Union were almost completely solved. An-22 could parachute a full company of paratroopers or 1-4 units of armored vehicles on platforms. In total, Antey has set more than 40 world records for all the time. So, in 1965, the An-22 lifted a load of 88.1 tons into the sky to a height of 6600 m, which set as many as 12 world records. In 1967, Antey lifted a cargo weighing about 100.5 tons into the sky to a height of 7800 m. In 1975, Antey made a 5000-kilometer flight with a load weighing 40 tons at a speed of about 600 km / h. In addition, "Antey" is a champion in landing cargo.
The An-22 made its first flight on February 27, 1965. Serial production was organized at the Tashkent Aviation Plant. The first "Antei" began to enter the Air Force in January 1969. Aircraft production continued until January 1976. For 12 years, the Tashkent Aviation Plant has built 66 Antey heavy aircraft, 22 of them in the An-22A version.

The Kiev plant "Aviant" (the last name) produced thousands of aircraft during the years of the USSR. Together with the Kharkov Aviation Plant in the 1980s, he annually produced hundreds of aircraft. In those distant years, people received a decent salary, were engaged in high-tech production and looked to the future with optimism. The year 1991 was a year of great hopes and a harbinger of great disappointments for the people of Ukraine. "Peremoga of independence" very quickly turned into "zrada". Very quickly, the number of aircraft produced fell to units per year. The agony of the industry, due to the strong inertia of the process, dragged on for decades. But it is very likely that the “patriots” of the second Maidan, who came to power, today decided to end the work of their “poperedniks”.

Legacy of the "totalitarian" regime

Antonov Corporation is the pride of the Soviet aircraft industry. The legendary An-2, An-12, An-22 "Antey", An-24/26/32, An-124 "Ruslan", An-225 "Mriya" plus many other unique and outstanding aircraft. Antonov's machines were so functional that most of them are still flying. Even the first-born AN-2, the famous "Corn".

In the late 1980s, Antonov Design Bureau worked on several projects, each of which could become the pride of any team. Just in time for the collapse of the USSR, the team put the An-74 transport aircraft on the wing, the output was the unique An-70 transport aircraft, work was underway on the An-140 short-haul passenger aircraft. He was supposed to take off in the tropical heat and Siberian frosts, from icy airfields and muddy primers. A line of narrow-body medium-haul An-148 aircraft was conceived.

The main production site of Antonov Design Bureau was the current Aviant plant. It was here that the unique Mriya was built, the second number of which has been waiting for its customer in the workshops of the plant for 25 years. At the time of the collapse of the USSR, the An-32 was produced here (the latest version of the super-successful An-24 and the prototype of the "future" An-132 aircraft).

Kharkov Aviation Plant. The production site of the Tupolev Design Bureau, which remained in Russia. Almost a thousand of the famous Soviet TU-134s were produced on his account. From the mid-1980s, this plant also began to produce An aircraft, which saved it in the 1990s. He managed to master the production of a very successful small truck An-74 and was preparing to become production base for An-140.

In 1998, they were released as many as 7 pieces. A kind of record for independent Ukraine.

Engine building enterprise "Motor Sich". A unique enterprise even for the USSR. Its engines were on many Soviet aircraft and helicopters. This saved the enterprise in the 1990s and allowed it to become one of the flagships of Ukrainian engineering.

First hit

Who needs planes in independent Ukraine in the 1990s? That's right, nobody. Thanks to the USSR, which literally stuffed it in the 1980s with hundreds of passenger and cargo aircraft. At the same time, against the background of a sharp reduction in freight traffic and the impoverishment of the population, it could be assumed that the domestic market of the country would not soon require their replacement. That is why the fall in aircraft production in the country was vertical. By the mid-1990s, if a country produced more than a dozen cars, the year was considered successful.

By the end of the 1990s - the beginning of the 2000s, if it were not for the enthusiasm of the design bureaus and aircraft factories, the aircraft industry could have been safely put an end to. But thanks to their efforts, An-70, An-140, An-148 were put on the wing. Delivered and ... unclaimed. The single market of the USSR collapsed and experienced stagnation and dominance of imported equipment. The domestic market of Ukraine was scanty and did not justify even small series production. Foreign markets were securely closed from competitors, and only "rogue" countries - Libya, Iran, North Korea, Cuba - sometimes bought aircraft from their traditional suppliers.

A breath of fresh air came with the revival of the Russian economy. By the mid-2000s, the old fleet of Soviet equipment had to be changed. Only orders from Russian civil companies and the Air Force could save the aircraft industry of the former "fraternal" republic from destruction.

Cooperation with the Russian Federation has become inevitable and timely. It was Russia that was the main customer for the entire line of "Ukrainian" aircraft. It was the joint production with the Russian Federation that helped launch the most promising Ukrainian AN-148 into the series. A significant part of the AN-140 was also produced by order and at the facilities of Russia (Aviacor Samara plant).

At the same time, the Zaporozhye plant "Motor Sich" was able not only to maintain its production and become the pride of Ukrainian engineering, but also to introduce the country into the list of countries producing turbojet engines with an afterburner (AI-222-25F for Chinese light attack aircraft L-15). Opening prospects made it possible not only to develop the old line of engines, but also to create new ones (for example, AI-28)

Let's summarize. The revival of Russia became a chance for Ukrainian aircraft builders, which Kuchma's Ukraine took advantage of. But then the time has come for the first Maidan.

Post-Maidan Syndrome

The main lesson that Russia learned after the first Maidan in Ukraine is that no one will let it regain its former power without a fight. You can only count on yourself. No regime in Kyiv in the realities of the second half of the 2000s will be able to guarantee the supply of critical equipment and components to it.

By the way, it was after the first Maidan in Ukraine in the Russian Federation that large-scale preparatory work on import substitution began, which gave the results that we see today. What Russia received in 2014-2015 was the result of decisions taken in 2005-2006. It was then that preparatory measures began to launch new engine-building plants, to maximize the localization of units for still foreign equipment on the territory of the country. By the way, the result of those events was the return to the homeland of the production of IL-76 from Tashkent, since it was no longer necessary to count on the An-70.

The second “fugitive” from Uzbekistan due to the Ukrainian crisis is likely to be Il-114.

In the Ukrainian aircraft industry, it is customary to do a lot of PR, discussing market prospects, and then write off all the problems and unrealized plans either for underfunding the industry or for the intrigues of competitors. Just remember a few stories.

In 1994, when the An-70 took off, the "potential" order market was estimated at 300 aircraft. To date, two of them have been released (one copy was lost during testing). That is, there is still no series and probably never will be.

In 1997, the An-140 was put on the wing, which, in less than 20 years, managed to master less than 5% of its “potential” market. Of the "potential" 700 pieces, only 31 copies were produced, of which only 11 were Ukrainian. Moreover, the last Ukrainian copy left the factory workshops in 2005.

In December 2004, according to the most conservative estimates of expert journalists, the potential market for the just-flying An-148 was 400-500 units. And the market for its An-158 and An-178 versions has not even been calculated yet, but you can be sure that in total it is more than a thousand units. Today, only 35 pieces have been produced. Of these, 10 are in Ukraine. At the same time, two of them are operated by the civil service to transport the first persons of the state, and eight - in countries under sanctions: Cuba and North Korea.

In the spring of 2014, as the escalation of Russian-Ukrainian relations grew, the last hopes of Ukrainian aircraft manufacturers began to disappear. Do you remember how much then there was talk about new horizons and opportunities for the Ukrainian aircraft industry if the economic part of European integration is signed?

What do we actually have? By the end of 2014, the Kharkiv Aviation Plant began bankruptcy proceedings and in 2015 did not produce a single aircraft. Due to restrictions on cooperation with Russia imposed by Kiev, by the beginning of 2015, work on the joint production of An-140 aircraft was stopped. The Russian Federation hastily prepared the replacement of Ukrainian components for the An-148 aircraft. As we remember, by that time the An-70 production program was finally buried, and several unfinished An-74s remained unclaimed in the KhAPP workshops due to the fault of the Arab Spring.

The fact is that the real customers for them were Libya and Egypt. The first aircraft will not be needed for a long time, and the second has not yet completely refused, but ... Even if one or two more aircraft of this model are sold, this will not solve the problems of the aircraft and the plant that produces it.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian aviation industry has begun the last stage of its recycling: the sale of technologies and design developments.

An-140. Taking into account Iran’s final refusal from the An-140 program, and it was difficult to expect another option when sanctions were lifted from it, Antonov’s only opportunity to somehow make money on this aircraft remains Russia’s offer to sell it a license for its production, with which it came out just a few days ago. In this case, it is obvious that, although it will be possible to forget about its production in Kharkov, there will still be little money “to drip”.

An-148. An-70. Recently, there was information that Turkey offered Ukraine to develop aircraft based on the An-148/158/178 and An-70, which will be produced at Turkish factories.

Minister economic development Ukraine Gennady Zubko:

“We have agreed on a Ukrainian-Turkish partnership in the aircraft industry and the development of space technologies. Together with Turkey, Ukraine is ready to develop and produce new passenger and transport aircraft on the basis of Antonov State Enterprise. In particular, these are the development and production of the TAN-158 passenger aircraft based on the An-158 aircraft; transport aircraft based on An-178 and aircraft based on An-70”.

What is it about? The fact is that no one will let Ukraine into the markets occupied by Western aircraft. Turkey has great ambitions (if it survives), but it has neither the technology nor the experience to produce such equipment. Ukraine can give her all this. It is obvious that Ankara will try to squeeze the maximum number of its equipment and Western engines into the “new car”, so as not to depend on Russia or Ukraine, and very soon new aircraft will come out of Turkish hangars that will not even be Ukrainian by name. What will Antonov get? Again, part of the royalties and, possibly, some insignificant volume of orders, especially at the first stage, until Ankara debugs the production of components at home.

Given that Russia will also produce its own version of the An-148, the Ukrainian An-148 will no longer have any global niche. They will be occupied by Russians or Turks (?).

An-132. A completely similar scheme emerges for another "ambitious" project of the Ukrainian aircraft industry - the joint production of the An-132 aircraft with Saudi Arabia. This machine is, in fact, the good old An-32, which proved itself well in the 1990-2000s. Until now, Ukraine can produce it almost by itself. At the same time, I am perplexed by the statements of the Ukrainian side that the new aircraft will be replaced by Russian engines with Canadian ones (Pratt & Whitney with English propellers), and the internal filling with American ones (Honeywell).

Since when did the AI-20D-5M Motor Sich engines become Russian? And most of the electronic stuffing?

All of these statements mask an ugly truth. Ukraine is developing a completely independent version of the aircraft for Saudi Arabia. As soon as the Saudis master the airframe production technology, and nothing else shines for them, the number of Ukrainian components and this “joint” project will become minimal, and Antonov’s income will be the same partial royalty for development. That is, we again see a scheme for selling technology and losing its niche in the market.

Soviet and post-Soviet design developments are the last legacy of the USSR, with which Antonov can still fill its budget.

Conclusion

For the whole of 2014, Ukraine produced only three aircraft. For 2015, two (one to Cuba, the second to the DPRK). All sales are carried out under previously concluded contracts with the participation of Russian suppliers and under the scheme of leasing supplies (through Russian IFC and Roseximbank). The only firm old contract for today is the delivery of three An-158s to Cuba (under the same leasing scheme). All new contracts for dozens of aircraft are still only options and are at the stage of protocols of intent, of which there have been a lot over the past 20 years.

The outcome of history is easy to predict. Already in 5-10 years of such "cooperation" Ukraine will lose the last possibilities of aircraft production. All the remnants of the technological backlog of the USSR will be sold, and the niches will be given to competing partners. Leading specialists who still remain will be forced to disperse, some to Russia (most), some to Turkey or Saudi Arabia.

What about factories? Aircraft assembly plants will have to close.

Photo: http://www.istochnik.info/media/k2/items/cache/c0e773e65f8953e5bbcd93f7e592444a_XL.jpg

25 years ago, Soviet Ukraine had a huge aircraft industry. Today we can state that we have practically lost it. Has Ukraine passed the point of no return? I do not know, but it is obvious that with the current course it is going in that direction.

The An-71 aircraft is a device for radar control. According to the codification of the NATO organization, he was dubbed as Madcap, which means "Madcap". The machine was developed within the walls of the Antonov design bureau. The main task of the new device was to replace the Tu-126 model. In total, two copies were made, which are not used today, one of them is in the aviation museum in the city of Kyiv.

The history of the creation of the An-71 aircraft

The project of this aircraft began to be developed in the autumn of 1982 by order of the USSR KMZ, and A.I. was appointed chief designer. Naumenko. O.K. was appointed the general designer of the An-71 project. Antonov.

Prior to the start of the design, a number of tasks were set for the designers and the characteristics that the new aircraft should have were named, namely:

the machine must be in the air for at least 4.5 hours;

the equipment can detect all targets at a great distance, even those flying at low altitudes;

keep 120 objects under observation at the same time;

detect all radar radiation and analyze to determine their information;

the ability to work with fighters for more efficient combat operations;

supply information to all allied ground forces of air defense, air force and others;

the possibility of flying in all climatic zones with large fluctuations in temperature conditions;

use of the machine and its equipment at any time of the day or night;

the aircraft must be autonomously based for a long time.

Only in the spring of 1983 was the final version of the design and equipment for the AN-71 approved. Due to the fact that the designers had high-quality studies, it was possible to bypass the stage of building a sketch of the apparatus, so all efforts were directed to the construction of a flight copy. The final assembly of the An-71 aircraft was scheduled for the summer of 1985. At the same time, three units of this apparatus were manufactured, which had to be tested separately in each direction. The creation of this machine took place quite quickly due to the fact that many parts and design features were borrowed from the An-72 aircraft.

In the summer of 1985, the device was ready, after which it was transferred for research, during which the machine made its first flight on July 12 under the control of A.V. Tkachenko at the Kiev airfield. In the same year, flight testing of the machine was actively carried out and continued until the year 86.

In the spring of 1986, the car was equipped with electronic equipment. For the first time in the entire line of An aircraft of that time, an anti-spin parachute system was installed on this unit. All tests carried out confirmed high quality flight performance in all flight modes. It should be noted that the test flights were carried out in different climatic conditions of the USSR and Asia.

All flight tests continued until the early 90s. Despite the fact that the machine had excellent characteristics, it was never submitted for testing by the state commission, and, as a result, the An-71 aircraft never got into mass production. For the first time this device was presented to the general public in the summer of 1995.

Design features of the An-71

The An-71 aircraft was made in the normal scheme aerodynamic design, on which a radar antenna was installed in the tail compartment. All antenna equipment was enclosed in a disc-shaped fairing, which was attached to the keel of the device. This design had the shape of a reverse sweep. Before choosing this type of construction, many options were worked out, according to one of them it was planned to install this equipment on a pylon.

The main design flaws of the An-71 aircraft

Insufficient stability of the machine in the longitudinal and lateral channel was noted.

The performance of the rudder trim was significantly reduced by installing a rudder on the aircraft, which consisted of four sections.

The car needed to reduce the impact of the exhaust gas flow from the engines on the plumage.

The chassis of the device had a reinforced structure and was represented by three pillars. This structure of the chassis system made it possible to operate the An-71 aircraft at unpaved airfields.

The power plant was represented by two D-436K turbofan engines. They had a large capacity of 7.5 thousand kilograms each. In addition to them, the car had another RD-38A turbojet engine, which had a capacity of 2.9 thousand kilograms. It was this engine that helped take off from poorly prepared runways. All power point provided with air from the air intake, which is located on top of the case. It was made to lift this aircraft into the air, which weighed almost 20 tons.

The maximum mass of the device during takeoff could reach 32 tons. With all this, the An-71 could reach a speed of 650 km / h, and the cruising speed was 530 km / h. Max Height, which the apparatus could climb, was 10.8 kilometers. The designers completed the assigned tasks and the flight time without landing, which was 5 hours. To control the machine required a crew of three people.

In addition to the standard model of the An-71 aircraft, a ship-based device was also manufactured, which was designated as AN71K.

An-71 characteristics:

Antonov An-71. Gallery.

Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was destined to build passenger and transport aircraft. By the time he was appointed chief designer, all the most prestigious and seemingly promising directions domestic aircraft industry have already been distributed. The young talented engineer did not get the laurels of the creator of formidable strategic bombers, spectacular liners and swift fighters. Nevertheless, Antonov's planes became real symbols of Aeroflot, they also served the defense of the country and in all respects turned out to be outstanding machines, workers of the sky. Today it is impossible to imagine Soviet aviation without them.

The path of the general

Oleg Konstantinovich was born in the village of Trinity near Moscow in 1906. The son of a hereditary nobleman, he received the same education as many boys after civil war, first at a vocational school and school, then at the University of Saratov. He became interested in the design of aircraft at the age of eighteen, taking up the design and construction of gliders. In 1933, Antonov was appointed chief designer of the Tushino aircraft plant, and in 1938, the chief engineer of the Yakovlev Design Bureau. By the start of the war, he chief designer Leningrad Aviation Plant, then he becomes the first deputy of the "king of fighters" Yakovlev. In the first post-war year, Antonov was assigned to head the branch of the design bureau in Novosibirsk. In the same place, a separate bureau was soon formed, which in 1952 was transferred to Kyiv. In the capital of Soviet Ukraine, all Antonov aircraft will be created, although the first of them took to the skies in Novosibirsk. An outstanding designer died in 1984.

"Annushka"

Immediately after the war national economy a special aircraft was required, and O.K. Antonov understood this very well. The aircraft (helicopters had not yet received sufficient distribution) was supposed to transport goods, mail and carry out aerial agricultural work. There was no talk of transporting passengers, although, as subsequent events showed, this biplane was able to transport millions of Soviet people. The car was designed in Novosibirsk by a team of enthusiasts led by a young leader, and the first pancake did not come out lumpy. The project met with resistance from the industry leadership, who considered the braced biplane an anachronism in the middle of the 20th century. O. K. Antonov himself defended the idea in high offices. The An-2 aircraft outlived its critics for many decades, several modifications were created on its basis, including a hydroplane (An-4), a weather reconnaissance aircraft (An-6) and a variant equipped with a turbo engine (An-3). A biplane (by the way, the largest mass-produced in the world) can carry up to 1.6 tons of cargo (or 10-12 passengers) at a speed of 180 km/h for a distance of up to 990 km.

An-8, An-10 and An-12

These Antonov aircraft marked the beginning of his activities in the field of transport aviation and formed the general style of the Design Bureau. In the future, projects built in Kyiv had a roughly similar scheme of a monoplane with a high wing. The first of these was the twin-engine An-8 (1954), sarcastically called by A. N. Tupolev "a good barn." The fuselage was really spacious, it contained a lot of useful overall cargo, the transportation of which became an urgent task for Soviet aviation during the period of mass construction and development of remote regions. Further development The project was the four-engine passenger liner An-10 and the transport aircraft An-12. These Antonov aircraft entered the highways in 1955 and had similar characteristics: carrying capacity - up to 20 tons, speed - about 570 km / h, and range - 5.5 thousand km.

An-24 line

At the end of the fifties, Aeroflot's workhorses Il-14 and Li-2 required replacement. In 1958, O. K. Antonov Design Bureau proposed a new airliner for medium-sized routes - An-24, which, unlike most previous models of passenger aircraft, was not a bomber conversion, but was developed from the very beginning as a civil aircraft. This affected comfort, very good for that time. Such qualities as amazing reliability, efficiency and unpretentiousness both in maintenance and in respect of runways determined the liner's immense popularity (it carried a third of the total passenger traffic) and its high export potential. On the basis of the An-24, many modifications were created, for example, such as a transport version with a ramp (An-26), a high-mountain one (An-38), an aircraft for aerial photography (An-30) and a military one (An-34), not counting the ice scouts, staff boards and many other variations on a given theme. The aircraft at the beginning of the third millennium was produced under license in China under the symbol Y-7. It is very difficult for him to find a replacement, especially in polar aviation, so about a hundred copies are still in operation today.

Antonov's giant transport planes, photos of which shocked the whole world

Antonov Design Bureau was also able to create small aircraft, like the An-14 Bee (the subsequent modernized version - An-28) with a cabin, as in fixed-route taxi, but it could also shock with truly cyclopean dimensions. The first sensation took place in Le Bourget in 1960, when the Antey An-22 passed over the heads of the stunned public at low altitude. No one had ever seen such a huge car at that time. The take-off weight of this giant is more than two hundred tons, in flight it develops a speed of 560 km / h and can deliver cargo over a distance of up to 5.5 thousand km.

But progress is constantly moving, and in 1982 the largest commercially produced transport aircraft An-124 Ruslan is put into production. Its takeoff weight reaches almost 400 tons, the speed exceeds 800 km/h. But this is not the limit. In 1986, the An-225 Mriya aircraft with a takeoff weight of up to 640 tons was successfully tested. Only two copies were built - this is a piece goods, the need for which is irregular, so such a giant did not go into series. When transporting extra-dimensional and heavy cargoes foreign companies and government agencies rent an Antonov aircraft, the photo and size of which are amazing.

KB im. O. K. Antonova today

After the collapse of the USSR, the aviation industry, previously united, was fragmented and divided between the states formed in the vast country. The Antonov Design Bureau became Ukrainian and had every chance of filling the large segment of the market for medium-haul liners and transport workers. But it happened differently. Political turmoil brought cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian aircraft manufacturers to a minimum, and those developed back in Soviet years samples for various reasons did not reveal their modification potential. The new aircraft "Antonov-140", which, according to the plan of the designers, was supposed to displace the "honored pensioners of allied significance" of the An-24 line, did not reach consumers, at least in the required quantities. The fate of both the short-haul passenger aircraft An-148 and the military transport aircraft An-178 is sad. Whether the relatively new wide-body airliner An-218 will fly is still unknown, but the general economic state of the country does not inspire much hope.

Today, according to its structure, Antonov State Enterprise is a large aircraft concern, where, under the general management, a full cycle of aircraft creation is carried out: from design and testing to serial production and after-sales support. One of the concern's promising projects is the An-178 multi-purpose cargo aircraft, designed to replace the outdated An-12 model.

State enterprise "Antonov"

It is the pride of Ukraine, one of the think tanks» advanced design ideas, a fusion of science and production. Aircraft models that have no analogues in the world have been created here more than once. For example, the super-lifting An-225 Mriya.

SE "Antonov" was originally created and still specializes in the development and production of civil and military transport aircraft. The enterprise also produces passenger models, but it is the An transport aircraft that have earned the reputation of reliable, sometimes irreplaceable workers. The four-engine turboprop An-12, developed back in the 60s, is still actively used in the expanses of the former USSR.

The airline group includes:

• experimental design bureau;
• pilot plant;
• flight test center;
• serial aircraft factory;
• 10 National Treasure-level research complexes employing more than 6,500 highly qualified scientists and engineers.

Promising developments

Civil aviation is in dire need of promising models that meet high environmental standards, low-cost operation, with an optimal ratio of price and quality, convenience and safety. And if foreign partners have already switched to a new model range, Russian and Ukrainian airlines are forced to quickly catch up.

In the 2000s, Antonov State Enterprise actively began to develop new and modernize old models of An aircraft:

• Narrow-body short-haul passenger An-148 and its improved version An-158.
• Medium-haul military transport and cargo An-70, on which great hopes are pinned.
• Upgraded An-124 "Ruslan".
• A completely new transport twin-engine An-178, which, according to the designers, should replace the obsolete morally and physically worn-out An-12 aircraft.

New generation transporter

As conceived by the designers, the 178th model will join the AN family of transport aircraft in the next year or two. Potential customers are already waiting with interest for a new generation cargo aircraft. The first flight is scheduled for 2015.

The experience of operating cargo-passenger and transport aircraft shows that multi-purpose models come to the fore. That's what it's meant to be latest development Ukrainian designers - An-178 aircraft. Characteristics meet the latest standards.

The development of this aircraft in the line of transport "Anov" today is one of the main programs of the enterprise. The team is faced with the task of creating a worthy replacement for the veteran An-12, which for many years was one of the best transport aircraft on the planet. Trends in the development of the world market give hope that the An-178 will be in demand in both the military and civilian sectors.

Advantages

The model is planned to be equipped with two which will provide high speed flight, flight performance and reduce noise levels. Feature of the aircraft - increased dimensions cargo cabin, which allows transportation of almost all types of packaged goods existing in the world. In particular, in sea containers and on pallets.

Like all "Antonov" aircraft, the An-178 will inherit such qualities necessary for a transporter as all-aerodrome, autonomy, high reliability, unpretentiousness, fault tolerance.

Cost minimization

In order to reduce the cost, the new An transport aircraft are unified with the models already developed and being produced. No matter how outstanding the characteristics of the aircraft, the most important indicator for civil aviation is the "issue price". With similar performance, the customer will prefer a cheaper model at the time of purchase and a more economical one during operation.

In terms of the composition of the airframe and on-board equipment, the An-178 is 50-60% unified with the regional passenger aircraft of the new generation An-148 and An-158, which have already confirmed in practice all the declared characteristics. In addition to reducing technical risks, unification will reduce the time for creating an aircraft to 2-2.5 years. Today, work on the design of the An-178 is going very intensively. In the near future, it is planned to complete the construction of the first flight prototype. In 2014, the fuselage was built, it remains to mount the wings and install equipment.

Two motors instead of four

The creators are proud of the new An-178 concept. The photo of the aircraft clearly demonstrates its main fundamental difference from the An-12 - only two propellers instead of four. The transition of developers from a four-engine layout to a two-engine one is not accidental. The design is based on an assessment of the needs of the global market. clearly traced modern trend the development of ramp transport aircraft, when, in the design and production of medium-class transport aircraft, aircraft manufacturers replace four-engine turboprop aircraft with twin-engine turbojet aircraft.

Calculations show that with approximately the same hourly fuel consumption, twin-engine turbojet models have higher performance due to much higher cruising speed.

Scope of use

Any aircraft is designed for specific tasks. The 178th was conceived as a multi-purpose transporter, which can be easily converted for both civilian and military transport purposes, as well as for special structures (Ministry of Emergency Situations, medical services, etc.).

Initially, the order for the An-178 was submitted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. However, Antonov State Enterprise is also counting on significant orders from civil aviation and cargo transportation companies.

A unique feature of the model is the ability to deliver all types of packaged cargo existing in the world (in containers and on pallets), including heavy-duty containers 1C (sea container) with transverse dimensions of 2.44 x 2.44 m. This makes the An-178 an indispensable vehicle for logistical support in commercial operation, in the military, for use in emergency situations.

Worthy replacement for An-12 and S-160

The 178th was conceived as a high-tech replacement for the medium-sized turboprop four-engine transport aircraft of the An-12 model, which have produced about 1,400 copies over the past decades. "Starichkov" is still actively exploited in the CIS countries, Asia, Africa. Developed in the 60s, the An-12 actually does not have a worthy replacement in terms of the combination of technical characteristics and commercial benefits.

Although the An-178 is structurally different from the An-12 and its operational characteristics do not replace 100% of the capabilities of the twelfth model, the 178th is still the best option replacement of the old transport fleet of domestic companies.

For customers focused on Western technology, the An-178 is offered as an alternative to the outdated Franco-German model "Transal" C-160 - a twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft, of which 214 copies were produced in the 70-80s.

Military transport modification

The military department of Ukraine is the initiator of the creation and the main customer of the An-178. The decision that the army needed a new medium-class military transport aircraft was dictated by time. The resource of An-12 and S-160 is almost exhausted. Meanwhile, in many countries of the world, a whole range of tasks has been formed, ideally adapted to vehicles exactly this dimension.

The average carrying capacity of such aircraft is 11-13 tons (more than 70% transport tasks), and the flight range is 2000-3000 km. The experience of using the An-12 and S-160 aircraft shows that transportation of wheeled self-propelled and non-self-propelled, as well as armored vehicles, is rarely carried out on them, and, as a rule, heavier aircraft, Il-76 and S-17A, are involved in such tasks. The main task of medium military-technical cooperation is logistical support for troops, parachute landing of small units or cargo on platforms, transportation of the wounded and transportation of light equipment, delivery of engines, equipment, etc.

Also, such aircraft are most often used for the delivery (including to hard-to-reach regions of the world) of goods on standard pallets and in containers. The breadth of the tasks to be solved is determined by the optimal transverse dimensions and dimensions of such a vehicle.

Competitors

In fact, the An-178 under development has only two potential competitors on the European market. The Ukrainian aircraft is close in class and capabilities to the new jet medium-haul transport aircraft Embraer KC-390, which is being created to replace the C-130. The Russian-Indian MTA project also has similar characteristics.

However, Embraer and MTA have a different development and application philosophy. First of all, the An-178 aircraft is smaller and takeoff weight, and is also being created on the basis of an already existing platform - regional aircraft of the An-148 family, proven in business. This allows it to be made much cheaper than competitors and with significantly lower fuel consumption, which affects the cost of the aircraft's life cycle.

An-178: characteristics

• Length - 31.6 m.
• Load capacity - 15 tons.
• Speed ​​(cruising) - 800 km / h.
• Wingspan - 28.91 m.
• The practical flight range at maximum load is 3200 km.
• The estimated cost of one aircraft is 20-25 million dollars.

Conclusion

An-178 is a transport aircraft that will replace the An-12. It can carry many loads various kinds. It is especially important that the model is able to transport even sea containers. The result is a unique and versatile cargo aircraft.