The Antonov An-124 Ruslan was designed in the mid-1970s to replace the turboprop-powered Antonov An-22. It is slightly larger than its U.S. counterpart, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but smaller than the An-225 “Cossack” which was originally designed to carry the Russian space shuttle. The first prototype (SSSR 82002, Number 318) flew on 26 December 1982 and made its public debut at the Paris Air Show in 1985. It entered active service with Aeroflot in 1986.

Except for having a low-mounted tailplane, the An-124’s general configuration is very similar to that of the C-5. It has an upward-hinged visor-type nose and rear fuselage ramp/door configuration to allow front and rear drive-on loading/unloading. Unlike the Galaxy, loads are positioned using two electric traveling cranes with a total lifting capacity of 44,100 pounds (20,000kg).

The upper-deck is pressurized and can accommodate 88 troops/passengers in the rear section, aft of the wing. The lower-deck, primarily for freight, is pressurized to a lower differential than the upper-deck and cannot be used normally for passenger carrying.

The 24-wheel landing gear system (two nose and ten main wheel bogies, five per side, each with two wheels) enables the aircraft to operate from unprepared fields, hard packed snow, and ice-covered swampland. It also has a “kneeling” capability which aides in loading/unloading operations.

All electrical systems are quadruple redundant and provide the capability to execute airlift and airdrop missions by day or night, in visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) weather conditions. There are 34 computers functioning aboard the aircraft, combined into four main systems: navigation, automatic piloting, remote control and monitoring.

The integrated flight control and aiming-navigation system is comprised of an autonomous navigation system, altitude and airspeed indicating system, combat formation flight control equipment, short-range radio navigation and landing system, global positioning system (GPS), automatic radio compass, ground surveillance radar, forward-looking weather radar, optical and TV sight, and IFF equipment.

On 26 July 1985, the An-124 set 21 official records by lifting a payload of 377,473 pounds (171,219kg) to an altitude of 35,269 feet (10,750m).

Specifications

Currently the world’s largest aircraft, the first Antonov An-225 Mriya (meaning “Dream”) prototype flew on 21 December 1988. It was designed and built by Antonov Design Bureau (headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine), known for their outstanding achievements in producing heavy transport aircraft. It is the largest aircraft to ever takeoff more than once.

Capable of transporting oversized objects externally, the An-225 was designed mainly to transport the Russian space shuttle “Buran” and its components from a service area to a launch site, although the Antonov bureau is looking for possible commercial applications for the enormous aircraft.

Construction of the An-124 provided the basis for the new aircraft with Antonov using many of the same components to keep cost and development efforts down. Although the basic configuration is the same as the An-124, the An-225 is longer, has no rear ramp/door assembly, and incorporates a 32-wheel landing gear system (two nose and fourteen main wheel bogies, seven per side, each with two wheels). The Mriya is not a military aircraft, however, it packs a great potential for military use as a super-heavy transport, it is capable of airlifting cargos that no other aircraft in the world is capable of.

As of this posting, only one An-225 has been built. There are rumors that the European Space Agency has plans to launch the unmanned British HoTOL (Horizontal TakeOff and Landing) from the An-225, though these rumors appear to be unfounded.

Specifications

The Antonov An-72 “Coaler” was designed as a Short TakeOff and Landing (STOL) aircraft which can operate from unprepared airfields. The An-72 originated as An-32, but was later fitted with jet engines. The first prototype flew on 22 December 1977, and the aircraft entered service in 1979.

The wings are high-mounted with two turbofans located in long pods mounted on top. Round air intakes extend from the front of the wings’ leading edges. The engines were placed on the leading edge of the wings to increase lift for STOL capability, with the jet exhausts blowing over titanium panels on the upper surface. The engine position also gives good Foreign Object Damage (FOD) protection. The fuselage is circular with round, solid nose, upswept rear section, and a flush cockpit. The rear fuselage has a hinged loading ramp with a rear fairing that slides backwards and up to clear the opening. Up to 7.5 tons can be airdropped, and there are folding side seats for 42 fully-equipped paratroops or 52 passengers.

The An-72P is a maritime patrol variant with bulged observation windows, liferaft provision, cameras as well as offensive armament, including underwing rocket pods, a podded cannon on the undercarriage sponson and bombs that can be mounted in the rear fuselage and dropped through the open rear ramp.

The An-74, a derivative of the An-72, features improved avionics and radar together with an extended wingspan and increased range. It was designed to operate in the polar regions where it can land on ice floes for resupply or rescue work. The An-71 AEW aircraft also featured the extended wingspan, along with a large radar dish on top of the tail.

Specifications

The Antonov An-70 is a new medium-size widebody Short TakeOff and Landing (STOL) transport aircraft intended to replace the aging An-12 “Cub”. The Ukraine-based program, which began in 1975, rolled out its first prototype on 20 January 1994, but a short first flight did not take place until 16 December of that year. The program received a tremendous setback on 10 February 1995 when the prototype aircraft was lost after a mid-air collision. While the An-72 chaseplane involved in the accident managed to return safely, the An-70 crashed and was completely destroyed, killing all seven crewmembers on board. Under normal circumstances, this would have certainly killed the program. However, the people behind this project knew they had an outstanding aircraft.

Despite many complications resulting from the breakup of the Soviet Union, a second prototype was constructed then rolled out 24 December 1996 in the presence of Ukrainian president Leonid Kutchma. The first flight occurred on 24 April 1997 with test pilots Alexander Galunenko and Anatoli Andronow from the Russian Air Force. The aircraft was debuted to the public at the Moscow Air Show in August 1997.

For the An-70 program, a number of technological breakthroughs were translated into impressive performances for the aircraft. The most prominent feature is its four Russian-designed propfans consisting of Stupino counter-rotating propellers (with 6 and 8 blades) and the Progress D-27 turboprops. Together, these are designed to offer very high speed performance combined with low fuel consumption. The Russian-developed SV-27 all-composite propellers are highly swept and are claimed to have a 90% efficiency rating in cruise, at near jet speeds. Also, a specialized landing gear system was incorporated which permits the An-70 to operate from very short, unpaved airfields.

Composite materials are used throughout the airframe, including the all-composite horizontal and vertical tail sections. The An-70 also incorporates fly-by-wire and an advanced flightdeck with six full-color digital displays and a head-up display used for landings on short airfields.

To increase efficiency, the An-70 is equipped with computerized navigation aides and flight controls, which allow for quick diagnostics and servicing. With these advancements the navigator, flight engineer, and radio operator stations have been eliminated.

The An-70 program is being financed by both Russian and Ukrainian governments (165 and 65 aircraft are planned, respectively). In October 1997, German defense minister Volker Rühe announced the intention to study whether the An-70 could be the basis for a new NATO future tactical transport aircraft. Evaluation was in competition with the newly-designed FLA A-400M proposed by Airbus Military Company.

An-70 models include the basic An-70 military freighter, a two crew An-70-100, an An-77 export version, and a commercial An-70T version. The proposed An-70TK would be a twin propfan convertible passenger/freight aircraft.

Antonov An-70 Specifications

Antonov designed the An-22 Antheus (named for the giant son of Greek god Poseidon) to carry the Soviet Army’s mightiest fighting vehicles, including main battle tanks and missile launchers. Its NK-12 turboprops, which also power the Tu-95/Tu-142 “Bear” family of Russian bombers and maritime patrol aircraft, are the most powerful turboprop engines in service. The first An-22 flew on 27 February 1965, and was publicly displayed at the Paris International Air Show later that year. The largest transport aircraft of the time, the An-22 set a number of world records. Production was ended in 1974 after approximately 75 aircraft had been delivered to the Soviet Air Force and Aeroflot. (Although primarily built for the Soviet Air Force, almost all An-22s wear the traditional Aeroflot colors. This allowed them much freer access to overflight and landing rights than had they been operated in military markings.)

Some notable features of the An-22 include the comprehensive navigation and precision drop avionics complete with three separate radars, a 14-wheel undercarriage (tire pressures can be adjusted from the flightdeck to optimize the aircraft for different airfield surfaces), a reinforced titanium floor with integral rear loading ramp, four overhead gantries and two floor winches for freight handling, twin tails, and double slotted wing flaps. Also, like the An-12, the main cargo hold is not pressurized, troops/passengers are carried in a forward cabin which accommodates 29.

After entering service, the An-22 set 14 payload to height records in 1967, the pinnacle of which was the airlift of 220,500 pounds (100 metric tonnes) of metal blocks to an altitude of 25,748 feet (7,848m). It also established the record for a maximum payload, 221,443 pounds (104,445kg), lifted to a height of 6,562 feet (2,000m). A number of speed records were also set in 1972, including a speed of 328 knots (608.5km/h) around a 540 nautical mile (1,000km) closed circuit with a 110,250 pound (50,000kg) payload. Several other speed-with-payload records were established in 1974 and 1975.

While the Antheus has been superseded by the larger, jet-powered An-124 “Condor”, the surviving aircraft are still heavily utilized as they offer rare payload carrying characteristics.

Specifications

The Antonov An-12 “Cub” is a cargo development of the AN-10 commercial transport. The first prototype flew in March of 1957. The civilian version, the An-12B, first flew in 1961 and went in production in 1962. Over 900 military and civilian versions had been built before production finally ended in 1973.

The An-12BP entered Soviet military service in 1959. In terms of configuration, size and capability, the aircraft is very similar to the U.S. built Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Unlike the Hercules, the An-12’s cargo hold is not pressurized or air conditioned and has no rear loading ramp. Instead, the undersurface of the upswept rear fuselage is composed of a pair of longitudinally divided doors which hinge up inside the fuselage. To accommodate direct loading from trucks, the undersurface aft of these doors consists of a further panel which is hinged at the rear to retracts upward. A built-in freight handling gantry with a capacity of 5,070 pounds (2,300kg) is used for repositioning cargo within the aircraft.

The An-12 has a high-mounted wing with drooping outer wing panels, back-tapered leading edges, straight trailing edges, and blunt tips. Four turboprop engines are mounted under the wings’ leading edges. The round, slender body features a stepped cockpit and glassed-in nose, with the landing gear housed within external blisters. The tail flats are unequally tapered with blunt tips and mounted high on the fuselage. The tail fin is tapered with a blunt tip and a step in the leading edge. Two 23mm guns are mounted in a tail turret.

Like the Hercules, there have been several An-12 variants. Two very notable platforms of the standard An-12BP transport are the electronic intelligence (elint) “Cub-A/B” and the ECM (electronic countermeasures) “Cub-C/D”.

The “elint” variant differs by number and location of antenna fairings and blade aerials, varying from “carrot-type” fairings on the wing tips and tailfin to the large oval compartment protruding from the (former) tail turret.

An-12s have been spotted over the Baltic Sea fitted (for an Anti-Submarine role) with nose and tail sensor arrays. This variant, dubbed the “Cub-C”, features a number of additional air scoops and heat exchanger outlets. All internal electronic equipment is palletized, and may be used in number of configurations. The “Cub-D” is a second ECM platform, with a different equipment fit and characterized by huge external pods on the lower corners of the forward fuselage and on each side of the base of the tailfin.

In addition to these operational variants, the An-12 has been used as a testbed for advanced avionics housed in a large blister fairing on each side of the fuselage, forward of the main landing gear fairings, and in other containers located under the front and rear loading doors and rear turret.

“Cubs” have served with numerous armed services throughout the world (including Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Poland, Sudan, Syria, and Yugoslavia) and commercial operators.

Chinese ‘Cubs’

The Shaanxi Y-8 is a licensed version of An-12 built in China. The task of designing and developing the aircraft was initially given to the Xian Aircraft Company, which built and subsequently flew the first prototype on 25 December 1974. Production was transferred to the Shaanxi Aircraft Company in 1972, and their first aircraft flew on 29 December 1975. From the start, the Chinese-built “Cub” could be distinguished by its longer nose, which is similar to that fitted to the Chinese-built “Badger”.

The Y-8A is a dedicated helicopter-carrier, optimized for transporting China’s Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawks to more remote areas. Internal cabin height was increased by deleting the internal gantry and travelling cranes/hoists. A civilian passenger/freighter version is designated Y-8B, while the Y-8C was developed in collaboration with Lockheed. Intended for civil and military customers, the aircraft has a redesigned cargo door, a longer hold (with no fuselage stretch), and various new systems. Two prototypes were constructed, but development was suspended. An AEW version has been reported to be under development.

The Y-8MP, the maritime patrol version, is the first long-range maritime patrol aircraft deployed by the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). With a range of 5,600km, it is equipped with a Litton APSO-504(V)3 surface search radar in an enlarged undernose radome along with additional navigational systems. The Chinese Navy also reportedly is acquiring Skymaster AEW radars. While Chinese officials claim these radars will be used for search and rescue operations, they could be used in AEW and surface surveillance roles.

Specifications