Model range of aircraft an. Antonov's children: the best aircraft of the USSR and Ukraine under the brand name an

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 One of the concern's promising projects is the An-178 multi-purpose cargo aircraft, designed to replace the outdated An-12 model.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" of 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. This is exactly what the latest development of Ukrainian designers, the An-178 aircraft, is intended to become. 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 flight speed, flight performance and reduce noise levels. The peculiarity of the aircraft is the increased dimensions of the cargo compartment, which allows transportation of almost all types of packaged cargo 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 an 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. The current trend in the development of ramp transport aircraft is clearly visible, 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 100% replace the capabilities of the twelfth model, the 178 is still the best option to replace 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 that are ideally adapted to vehicles of just this dimension.

The average carrying capacity of such aircraft is 11-13 tons (more than 70% of 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 has a smaller size and take-off weight, and is also being created on the basis of an already existing platform - regional aircraft of the An-148 family, proven in practice. 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 a lot of different types of cargo. It is especially important that the model is able to transport even sea containers. The result is a unique and versatile cargo aircraft.

December 21, 1988 the plane went on its first flight AN-225 Mriya, a flying giant, one of the largest aircraft in the world. Twenty-five years have passed since then, and during this time the Antonov design bureau has created more than one new aircraft. That's about the glorious future of the legendary airline, as well as the present and past will be discussed in this review. We present to you ten best aircraft under the AN brand: from oldest to newest.

The first aircraft produced by the design bureau of Oleg Antonov under its own brand of AN was the AN-2, which received the name "Kukuruznik" from the people. In the Soviet Union, Annushka (another informal name for AN-2) was produced until 1971, in Poland until 2002, and in China it is still stamped. That's what good design means!

AN-10 is the first aircraft under the AN brand designed for passenger transportation. The medium-range airliner, designed for flights over distances from 500 to 2000 kilometers, was produced from 1957 to 1960, and finally decommissioned in 1972.

The first "large" aircraft from Antonov Design Bureau. Designed for freight transportation at a distance of up to 8500 kilometers. Antey was also used for military purposes (almost three hundred soldiers fit in it). The AN-22 was produced from 1966 to 1976, but some of its copies are still in operation today.

The workhorse of civil aviation is more than a dozen countries around the world. This is probably the most popular passenger aircraft under the AN brand. A total of 1367 units of this aircraft were produced, and the design bureau subsequently modified this aircraft into newer versions: AN-26, AN-30, AN-32 and AN-34.

The AN-72 military transport aircraft received the affectionate name "Cheburashka" for the characteristic appearance of the engines standing out against the background of the wings. In November 1983, Cheburashka broke the world record for maximum flight altitude, rising to 13,410 meters.

Heavy long-range transport aircraft, which was produced for twenty whole years - from 1984 to 2004. Ruslan was created, first of all, for the transportation of military equipment, including ballistic missiles. But now it is used for much more peaceful purposes, providing air transportation of oversized cargo. It is quite possible that in the near future the production of AN-124 will be restored.

An aircraft without a personal name, a modest hard worker, designed to transport passengers and cargo over a distance of up to 3,700 kilometers. Produced in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran.

One of the most popular passenger aircraft developed by the Antonov Design Bureau. Its serial production began only in the mid-2000s, but now it has won worldwide recognition. In total, more than 500 copies of this aircraft are expected to be produced.

The newest brainchild of the Ukrainian design bureau, its pride and hope for the future. Launched into the sky in 2010, the AN-158 passenger aircraft is one of the most economical and reliable aircraft in its class in the world. At the moment, only 4 of these aircraft have been manufactured, but this is just the beginning.

Goliath among the planes. This . The wingspan is 88.4 meters, which is close to the minimum length of a football field. And this giant is designed to transport not only bulky cargo, but also other aircraft, including the Buran space shuttle. Unfortunately, only one copy of the AN-225 was produced, the second one has been unfinished on the territory of the Kyiv Aviant plant for more than a decade.

The An-71 aircraft is a device for radar control. According to the codification of the NATO organization, he was christened 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. 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 the high quality of 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 manufactured in a normal aerodynamic design scheme, 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 apparatus. 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. The entire power plant was provided with air from the air intake, which is located on top of the hull. 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. The maximum height to which the device 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:

Modification
Wingspan, m	31.89
Aircraft length, m	23.50
Aircraft height, m	9.20
Wing area, m2	98.60
Weight, kg
empty plane	19760
maximum takeoff	32100
engine's type	2 D-463K turbofan engines, 1 RD-38A turbofan engine
Thrust, kN	2 x 7500 + 1 x 2900
Maximum speed, km/h	650
Cruise speed, km/h	530
Patrol duration, h	5
Practical ceiling, m	10800
Crew, people	6

Antonov An-71. Gallery.

The long-term president and general designer of Antonov State Enterprise Dmitry Kiva now lives and works in Azerbaijan.

His resonant, overgrown with rumors and speculations, leaving the Firm (as he himself calls the Antonov State Enterprise) led to a leapfrog in the position of its head. For nearly two years, it has already been the fourth president, and the position of general designer has been abolished altogether. In turn, the project for the construction of An-178 transport aircraft in the interests of Baku, which D. Kiva accompanies already from the Azerbaijani side, can become a breakthrough in cooperation between the two countries. Will it just happen? About this, and also about many other things - from parting with Antonov State Enterprise to assessments of the current state and prospects of the flagship of the domestic aviation industry and those responsible for it - in an exclusive interview with ZN.UA.

Dmitry Semenovich, tell us about your work in Azerbaijan - from the idea of moving, position and to current functional duties ...

- Today in Baku, I work as an adviser to the president of the Azerbaijani commercial aviation company Silk Way, as well as an adviser to the head of the main state airline AZAL.

Azerbaijan relatively recently got involved in very ambitious projects, which, ideally, should lay the foundations and become platforms for the development of the national aviation industry. One of these, of course, was considered a contract with Ukraine for the construction of ten An-178 transport aircraft. When in 2016, not entirely of my own free will, I found myself in a creative search, I found out about the interest of the Azerbaijani side in my services, after weighing all the pros and cons, I accepted the offer from Baku. There were still, you know, the strength and desire to work in the specialty ... Over time, the work was not limited to the An-178 project alone. Azerbaijan is interested in consulting services on other An-124 aircraft, primarily the Ruslan An-124, as well as on transport aircraft of other brands, with which, due to my competence, I have to work.

- Why about An-178 - in the past tense? Or it seemed to me? Tell us about the current state of the project.

- Everything really began with the An-178 and had concretely tangible prospects. A contract was signed under which Baku transferred $1 million in advance to Antonov. Separately, I want to emphasize that Azerbaijan was tuned in to the subsequent organization and adaptation of assembly production at its own facilities. This would be a real breakthrough, and for both states.

However, in Kyiv, since 2016, the project began to stall, tests of the aircraft, work on its certification, etc., ceased to be carried out. The program has basically stopped. Today it is clear that the plane, which should be delivered to the Azerbaijani side, will simply not be available.

- The contract initially provided for the equipment of machines with Russian components. A price was agreed based on a batch of 10 aircraft, which was about $25 million per unit. A year ago, the Azerbaijani side received a notification that the aircraft would be with other equipment, but the price would already be almost $45 million. and signed parameters, you see, a completely different story.

But after all, the break in military-technical cooperation with Moscow is an objective, expected and long-awaited reason. Were such problems and risks not initially understood?

- They were understandable, and they miscalculated. It was envisaged that the necessary components for the Azerbaijani project would be supplied to Kyiv directly from Azerbaijan. That is, Baku purchases the necessary Russian components on its own, then delivers them to Kyiv, or subsequently uses them at its own assembly facilities. The specifics were taken into account, the scheme looked like a working one, the final recipient is Azerbaijan, there is no violation of sanctions by Kyiv.

Now the output is - the project with Russian participation has been suspended, the advance payment has been spent, the deadlines are passing, nothing has been done to replace Russian equipment.

Wait, not so long ago it sounded from Antonov that Baku was sympathetic to Ukrainian problems regarding the refusal and replacement of Russian participation in the project. Of the latter, it was announced that a general agreement had been concluded with the American company Aviall Services Inc. (Boeing Global Service Group) as an important step towards the resumption of mass production, moreover, a single line called An-1X8 for An-148/158/178 models?

- Am I against it? Someone, but me, does not need to be convinced of the need for cooperation with Western partners, and preferably for the entire line of An aircraft - I will return to this later. But in the case of the Azerbaijani An-178 project, there are two points. First, Baku recently noted in the relevant protocol that it is ready to consider the acquisition and adaptation of its aircraft production at the level, in the configuration, in the price parameters that were provided for under the basic signed contract. And the second one is much more difficult and more critical: the Antonov company in its current state is hardly capable of pulling out this project.

So the remarks about the “relationship with understanding” are still on-duty diplomatic phrases, wishful thinking, nothing more.

The first argument is clear - Azerbaijan, after all, has the right to insist. According to the second argument, your assessment looks absolutely apocalyptic. An-178 is not a crude project, its passenger “big brothers” An-148/158 fly and have proven themselves quite well. For starters, where did the figure of $45 million for the An-178 without Russian components come from?

- This should be asked of the new, now also former leaders of the Firm - Mikhail Gvozdev and his colleague and successor Alexander Kotsyuba. People undertook to manage the Firm, having nothing to do with Antonov, professionally not understanding - neither how the development is going on, how the production of aircraft works, nor how the industry as a whole functions. People simply came for money, apparently having received a blessing from the very top ... They brought with them about two hundred leaders of various levels, and not one of them was an aviation specialist. Gvozdev and Kotsyuba soon left, but all these people remained, and all in senior positions - vice presidents, directors, etc.

It's not about the announced price, the justification, or rather, the unjustification of its overestimation, etc. "Antonov" massively left and are leaving the staff, and the best specialists simply go abroad. To Europe, the USA, China, and whoever to Russia, by the way ... And not only “for a long ruble”, believe me. People are fans of their work, they just want to grow, work in their specialty, have normal goals and objectives, as well as working conditions. When I talk about young professionals, I mean employees who are over thirty, and sometimes well over thirty. According to studies conducted by the American company Boeing, an aviation specialist, a designer, the level of competence is reached on average at the age of 53 years. This is if, after a specialized university, he constantly works in his specialty.

Our people, striving for competence, are leaving. The numbers are frightening: more than 4,000 employees, including highly qualified specialists, have recently left the Firm. With me there were about 14 thousand people, now there are about 9000. So in this regard, the worst thing is that the point of no return may be passed.

Was the outflow of personnel a consequence of the restructuring of the industry, when Antonov became part of the state concern Ukroboronprom?

- I see no direct reason for such parallels. Understand that it was not the change in administrative reassignment that became the underlying cause of stagnation. Yes, the bureaucratic system of management, control, coordination of actions, etc. was reconfigured. But this, in principle, was at the level of the Ministry of Industrial Policy before. Not the matrix, not the structural vertical are to blame ... Another thing is staffing. After all, everything depends on professional competence, wisdom, if you like, of a leader, and not on a sign with a position. After all, what happened in 2015? Non-professionals began to manage the firm, and again non-professionals above and below them. All this has led to the fact that the Soviet thesis that “a milkmaid can lead the state”, which has become a meme, no longer causes laughter in the case of “Antonov”. It's more of a sadness and disappointment. Judge for yourself: over the past three years, there have been four new leaders of Antonov. God bless her - with the turnover as such, but not one of them was involved in either the design of aircraft or their production. The current president, Alexander Donets, has long been engaged in the operation of aircraft, but not in the development and production.

And the “178th” aircraft is undoubtedly a very promising project, with its own unique market niche: between light transporters of the C295 and G27 types and the C-130, the most massive aircraft in the world in this segment. The latter costs today about 100 million dollars per unit - in a modernized form, with new engines, new avionics, and so on. We planned that the new An-178 would cost about 30-40 million dollars and would be able to occupy its niche in the market. Replacements are required by the old An-12s, the S-160 and S-130 in the old versions are leaving en masse. Azerbaijan's interest in the An-178 (moreover, as a basic model for the development of its own industry) spoke for itself.

- What is fraught with for "Antonov" and for Ukraine the failure of the Azerbaijani contract?

- The advance payment will have to be returned in the event of a breakdown... And how can one measure the image losses for the Firm and for the state as a whole? It is difficult and painful for me to talk about this... Let's see how the situation develops. Let's hope, of course. But I see huge problems with the further implementation of this project. Two key problems are the outflow of personnel and incompetent management. Plus, the lack of a resource for reformatting the project in terms of modernization with Western equipment.

But after all, with the An-132 for Saudi Arabia, it worked out at the time. It worked out even with the adaptation of the engines ...

- Correct example. But these works on the An-132 aircraft were mainly paid for by Saudi Arabia as a customer - this was its condition from the very beginning. Well, the Firm was in a different state then.

I can tell you that according to the experience with the An-132, a similar modernization of the An-178 will require about $120 million. The customer represented by Azerbaijan will not agree to this. The company today does not have such own funds, and the state is also unlikely to allocate such money for an external order.

Can, in your opinion, the basic format of the contract for the An-178 with Russian participation, on which Azerbaijan still relies, lead to the leakage of design documentation for the aircraft along the Kiev-Baku-Russia line? The car is unique, Russian analogues are pouring in ...

- Aircraft documentation is not a picture, a folder or a flash drive. The entire set of documentation for the aircraft will not fit in this office. If you meet insinuations on this topic, then this is either incompetence, or those who want to speculate on this topic. Appreciating your diplomacy as an interviewer, I'll save you from posing the issue of the leak more harshly. ( Pause)

…I'm still here on the spot. I am Ukrainian, I was, I am and I will be, no matter how pathetic it may sound. My parents are buried in Ukraine. There are such concepts as honor and conscience. I worked at Antonov for 52 years, and I will never betray the interests of the Firm. I was actually offered - and still is being offered - to move to work in Russia, China, Europe ...

There is no such threat as you asked about.

In the context of the break in military-technical cooperation with Moscow, loud declarations about the plans of the Russian side to independently build An-124 Ruslan aircraft became the last resonant topic. Without "Antonov" and with the former name of the aircraft. How “legal” is this and is it technically feasible?

- Let's go in order, with all aspects, so that there is no understatement later. Although, whoever wants to, he will tear the phrase out of context. I'm not used to.

On the territory of Russia, back in Soviet times, mass production of the An-124 was mastered at the Ulyanovsk Serial Plant. All design documentation is available there. A license agreement was also concluded between the Ulyanovsk plant and the Antonov State Enterprise. The contract is valid, no one has broken it.

No one can interfere with the decision to resume the series, and no one will forbid the aircraft to be called
An-124 "Ruslan", add a letter or change the name. But it seems to me that they will not recede from the old name. So they can, of course.

Let me give you a few examples from my personal experience so you can understand what I mean. The Chinese at one time many years ago mastered the production of our An-24, called it MA60, modernized and mass-produced. Where we just did not write a claim. With An-12 (Y-8), An-2 (Y-5) the picture is similar. They are still producing, and all our claims have remained our problems.

Another example. Closer. In Poland, at one time they began to produce our An-28 aircraft, calling it M28. Our claims came to nothing. The answer of the Polish side was simple: we signed a contract with the USSR, it is not there now, the assignee is Russia, and it has no claims against us. They called the car in a different way - that's all. The Poles also certified the An-2 without us, without changing the name, by the way.

According to ICAO rules, any aircraft manufacturer, developer or operator of an aircraft is controlled by the aviation administration of the state where this happens. And for this she is directly responsible. Including and above all - for flight safety. There are also rules according to which any organization can submit an appropriate application to the aviation administration of its state and even carry out aircraft modernization. What can I say, if some Ukrainian companies carried out modernization, various modifications of the An aircraft without the Antonov company - the Ukrainian aviation administration gave the appropriate permissions. There are examples when our planes were registered in Moldova, they received permits there, and there, on the spot, they extended the flight life of the An-12 without us, and so on.

I personally struggled with this more than once, because this is not only our business, but also a matter of flight safety, and, accordingly, the image of the Company. Wrote various letters to ICAO and other international organizations. It ended with the fact that I was awarded an ICAO diploma as a fighter for flight safety ...

By the way, at one time, back in the USSR, I was personally the head of the testing and certification programs for An-124-100 aircraft. Among other things, he flew several times directly to the United States to resolve the issue of his admission to fly with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Americans really did not want to let this plane in. A number of meetings were held, all the necessary documents were shown, and permission to fly to the USA for Ruslans was received. The American negotiating team was headed by Tony Broderick, then head of the US FAA. By the way, he came to our enterprise in Kyiv.

In general, the responsibility is always with the aviation authorities of the state giving permission to operate the aircraft. Approaches to resolution may be different. Dot.

It's clear here. Will Russia pull out the project when, in fact, their Ilyushin Design Bureau, which is responsible for organizing the Ruslan series, lies?

But this is a completely different question - not from the category of “prohibit to produce” or “prohibit to name”, etc.

With a sufficient resource - restore the production line, carry out equipment-related upgrades, purchase missing equipment from abroad, take and produce an aircraft. In addition, having experience in mass production.

And here again two components of the issue emerge - financial and technical. Are the Russians ready to pour money into a series with an eye to the commercial market, and will such an aircraft be in demand with the resulting cost? Are there orders for a commercial series, and what should be the series for such a machine to pay at least the cost?

Or they will mass-produce in the interests of their Ministry of Defense, where, by the way, such a machine is very much needed. And here the concept “we won't stand up for the price” is quite viable in Russian realities, it has worked repeatedly.

Now the technical points. They do not have an engine on the An-124. Ukraine, for objective reasons, will not deliver. According to Western analogues - on the one hand, again, the sanctions regime, on the other hand, in the event of a circumvention / lifting of sanctions - will the Russian Ministry of Defense itself go to install Western engines on its aircraft? I emphasize that we are talking about mass production ...

And now we have a more or less complete picture, and not the informational background, which is sometimes more interesting to most media than the real essence of the issue ...

Is it possible in principle to install Western engines on the An-124 - I ask in the light of the prospects of the project in the interests of Antonov and Ukraine?

This is not only possible, but also expedient. We have already said that at one time we decided to change the engines to Western analogues for the An-132, and with the help of a foreign customer we implemented such a project. Similar developments were carried out on engines for the An-124. In general, I consider the adaptation and installation of Western engines on aircraft of the An line to be a completely justified decision that meets the interests of both Antonov and the Ukrainian aviation industry as a whole. This is a new level of cooperation and, accordingly, a new market.

If we talk about engines for Ruslans, then we once conducted a study comparing the parameters of D-18 engines manufactured by Motor Sich JSC with foreign counterparts. And we got the following picture: in terms of key parameters - the payload (which is transported by installing engines at various distances), fuel consumption, time between overhauls, engine flight life, cost of maintaining airworthiness per unit of time - for all these parameters, the D-18 loses Western counterparts on average from 1.5 to 2 times. For example, in conditions of high temperatures ≥30 °C, when flying at the same range, the carrying capacity with Western engines increases by 65%. All this is confirmed by concrete figures, which I have repeatedly voiced at international conferences.

- Are Western partners ready for such cooperation on the Antonov platforms?

- Western partners were ready. I note that we are not talking about new engines, but about used engines after a major overhaul. Accordingly, the price would have been more profitable than that of the D-18. Our correctness was confirmed by the practice with the implementation of the An-132 project, where Canadian PW150 engines were installed.

Today, Ruslans are competitive solely due to the unique design and characteristics of the aircraft. Their quantity provides the demand of the commercial market. But if the market grows - and such a trend is visible - I am sure that both the series and the modernization of the An-124 should be carried out, focusing on Western engines. As an option: on the basis of the An-124 there is modern aerodynamics, a reliable airframe, modern digital equipment, Western engines can be supplied, and a modernized machine can be made on the existing design base. And the plane would be unsurpassed. An investor, I think, would be found. After all, no one in the world today will pull an aircraft of this class from scratch in the foreseeable future.

- What's stopping you?

- Let's go back to what I said above. We need professionals both in negotiating and in design and production issues. I will not repeat myself.

After all, we went through a lot at the Aviant serial plant, which previously - until 2009 - was independent. Oleg Shevchenko, who had previously worked at a glass factory in Konstantinovka, was appointed director there. After that, the plant practically stopped the production of aircraft. But at the same time, the equipment for the mass production of the An-124 aircraft was completely destroyed and scrapped at the plant. Today they don't remember and don't talk about it. Although the current president of Antonov, Alexander Donets, who at that time was also the director of a serial plant, should perfectly remember and understand what I'm talking about. The plant had debts of more than 100 million US dollars, and aircraft were not produced. Then, by a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers, the debts were turned into bonds, and the plant was attached to our design bureau. And we began to revive the plant, recruit people and produce aircraft. Although not many (5-10 aircraft per year), they began to do this. A backlog of aircraft, wings, fuselages was created, which after 2015 remained a backlog ...

But what about the long-term cooperation on engines with the Zaporozhye enterprise Motor Sich? National manufacturer...

- But you can't argue against technical parameters and against the market. Potential customers, after all, understand everything and are perfectly oriented in the state of affairs in the market. How much has Ukraine been talking about cooperation with Western companies in high-tech segments? “Antonov” tried here and had the prospect of becoming a locomotive. This is both a question of certification and, in general, the promotion of aircraft on the international market. These are not slogans, everything is based on specific calculations. After all, we have taken into account the interests of our main domestic partner, Motor Sich, for a very long time. For example, we basically did not consider alternatives to the domestic D-436 engine for the An-148, which was not certified for flights in Europe. But we came to the conclusion that with this approach we cut off the prospects of our aircraft in the world market. It was necessary to make a decision - either wait until Motor Sich's aircraft engines start to match, or reorient to Western counterparts. And if the engine does not have a Western certificate, then an aircraft with such engines will not receive it either, and there are no prospects for the Western market.

I will repeat myself and say it straight - I was in favor of changing domestic engines on cars of the An line. And we were ready to implement it.

At the same time, we were also always ready to install our engines. But we need a modern technical and economic level and Western certification.

Throughout the interview, your words somehow show through - not so much resentment or anger, but bewilderment from the injustice of the events associated with your departure from the Antonov State Enterprise. It is felt that this topic is unpleasant for you, but, nevertheless, what happened then?

- Come on, I don’t have any resentment, or, moreover, I don’t have any gloating. I would not say a word, if the Firm had developed, the results would have been visible, the stagnation that has been happening in recent years would not have been observed.

For many years, working as the president and general designer of Antonov, I have experienced everything, believe me. From undercover intrigues to direct threats and provocations...

In my care - a well-known topic. Arseniy Yatsenyuk tried to remove me from the Firm in 2014 when he was prime minister. He was helped in this, among others, by a well-known businessman and deputy Nikolai Martynenko, who, by the way, was once a Komsomol organizer at the ASTC. Antonova. It happens. Also, my departure from Prime Minister Yatsenyuk was personally lobbied by the president and owner of Motor Sich JSC Vyacheslav Boguslaev. Apparently, he could not come to terms with our plans to adapt Western engines to An aircraft. Let it remain on his conscience. The company was transferred to Ukroboronprom, and I calmly continued to work. The team stood up for me, they even brought buses to us under the OMON fence. Then I managed to survive. This is not forgotten...

Then Petro Poroshenko and his colleague Oleg Gladkovsky took over personally. It was just at the time when the company was hard at work on the creation of a new An-178 aircraft. We have been working on this project since 2008. And finally, on May 7, 2015, the aircraft made its first flight. And already on June 12, 2015, I wrote a letter of resignation from the position of president of the company “of my own free will”. None of the then managers explained to me the reason for my “leaving” and none of them also thanked me for more than 50 years of work at the firm. How did it happen? Calls began to the prosecutor's office to the investigators on particularly important issues. It would be fine just me - I'm not used to it. So they began to pull the son, wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law. Charges were brought forward, which, according to non-public assessments of the same investigators, did not even amount to administrative violations. Oleg Gladkovsky personally offered me to write a voluntary resignation from the post of the Firm's President, so that these challenges would stop. It was said: "You will be engaged in science, technology, you will remain the general designer, and others will manage finances and the company." That's exactly what I did. In the end, "Antonov" is not my property, since the state needs it so, so be it.

When I wrote the application, the next day they issued an order to appoint Mikhail Gvozdev as acting president of the Antonov State Enterprise. I signed the order to hire him along with my resignation letter. He needed to be in the state. And the next day - it was, by the way, on Saturday - Petro Poroshenko came to the enterprise to represent the new leader. He came up to me, shook my hand and said: “Thank you for understanding” ...

Then the new presidents - Gvozdev and Kotsyuba - simply began to destroy the Firm. Their activities, I am sure, will still be evaluated. Continuing to work as a general designer, I told them directly that they were engaged, to put it mildly, “in the wrong direction”. After all, even without the post of president, I could see where it was “leaking” and for what reason. I refused to leave the post of general designer of my own free will. So these guys did not come up with anything else but to simply eliminate this position. They couldn't get rid of me otherwise. Then proposals from Russia, Azerbaijan, Europe, China followed...

Going back: what would you single out specifically from the results, from the groundwork that was left at the time of your departure? And then you have to read different ...

- During the ten years of my work (from 2005 to 2015), in fact, a lot has been done. Dry statement:

An-148 and An-158 passenger planes were created and certified, their serial production was organized;

An-178 cargo aircraft was created, which made its first flight in May 2015;

Tests have been completed and the An-70 aircraft has been put into service in Ukraine;

A deep modernization of the An-124-100 aircraft was carried out to ensure its operation around the world (An-124-100M-150 version) with an increased payload from 120 to 150 tons;

For the first time, Antonov received a European certificate (for the An-26 aircraft);

A contract was signed with Saudi Arabia and work began on the creation of the An-132 aircraft;

A number of negotiations were held with Turkey on the joint development and production in Turkey of a passenger aircraft based on the An-158; in Ankara, the aircraft was presented to President R. Erdogan; on the plane (working title TAN-158, “Turkish An”), it was planned to install Western engines;

Promising contracts with China were signed and began to be implemented (for Y-20 and An-178 aircraft);

A contract was signed with Azerbaijan for the An-178 aircraft;

Work began on the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles;

The highest average salary in the industry and among industrial enterprises in Kyiv was at Antonov...

I repeat, I am not indifferent, to put it mildly, to the fate of the Firm. I had to work closely together with its founder, Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, first as the lead designer, and then as his deputy. O.K.Antonov - an outstanding personality and world-class designer, Teacher. On my initiative, the Firm was named "Antonov". And I would very much like that those people who today are involved in the Antonov company do not dishonor this glorious name.

If everything was fine there, I would only be happy and calm. And so over the past four years, not a single new aircraft has been made. The An-132 prototype, which was laid down in my presence, was completed. For An-148/158, only the old backlog is shown. Show where are the new fuselages, where are the new wings. There is no this. And the deplorable state the Firm is in. And God is a witness, I have nothing to do with it.

Would you return if you had the chance? Fix the situation...

- I feel very comfortable working in Azerbaijan, my family feels comfortable here. I will always be grateful to this country and the people who warmly welcomed me here. The leadership of Azerbaijan thinks about the future of the country, including the development of the nation's intellect. There is an understanding of the need to move to the development of high-tech industries and industries, because oil and gas resources are not eternal. It is felt.

I remember the phrase “never say never” well. But I hardly can. There is no that passion, energy with which he worked and fought for 52 years.

But we won't give up...

- Under the current government, I will definitely not return to the Firm.

Vladimir KOPCHAK, Head of the South Caucasian branch of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (Tbilisi-Baku-Tbilisi)

[ Anonymous from address 188.166.78.* ]

RUSSIAN PROVERB - Right now, I would like tea with a bun, but on the stove with a fool. UKRAINIAN PROVERB - At once fat with ham, but in the garden with a girl. GEORGIAN PROVERB - Now wine would be with barbecue, and in the mountains with a donkey.

[ Anonymous from address 207.244.89.* ]

178.62.192.* ] Poland has played a significant role in the plight of Ukraine. Back in the 90s, it was Poland that was the first to lay a gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine. It was Poland that cheaply bought potsreots so that they could touch the Muscovite trucks by the udder while the Poles were brutally bargaining with Moscow for Russian, Central Asian and Chinese transit. As a result, Ukraine is shish without oil, and the Polish road builders receive another 40 billion of gratuitous European aid to expand roads choking under the transit shaft. It was Poland that ideally organized shuttles at the border, practically eliminating Ukrainian customs fees for small household appliances. Poland today is number one in slavery by Ukrainian migrant workers. And modestly suppress the rumors about whose artillery batteries stood on Mount Karachun when the crests themselves were not yet ready for this.

[ Anonymous from address 188.187.48.* ]

yes, z.p. we get, but not for this. it's so entertaining for the soul, neighing over independence

[ Anonymous from address 46.133.76.* ]

It’s cool that they live in Rashka, scribble insanity all day and probably also get a salary.