A New “Ruslan” Was Demonstrated to Berlin |
Ukrainian ANTK together with Russian Volga-Dnepr airline presented in Berlin a new blueprint for An 124-100 aircraft serial production restart.
Dmitry Kiva, ANTK chief aircraft designer, sees the recommencement of modernized An-124 aircraft serial production as one of the most promising Ukrainian-Russian projects for the last years. According to him the aircraft model will have no rivals in the world due to the Ukrainian aircraft designers’ developments.
The new An-124 version will be equipped with updated avionics, modernized engines, will have the payload of up to 150 tons and a high flight range and the number of crewmembers will be cut, said D. Kiva. He also pointed out that Ruslan performances surpass such American C-17 version while the manufacture of the first one is cheaper.
Alexey Isaikin, Volga-Dnepr group President, said to journalists in his interview, the project, started by Ukraine and Russia, provides for 100 An-124-100 aircraft production within 20 years and is valued at USD 6 mlrd. Manufacture cost amounts to ~ USD 100 mln per aircraft. The release of the first such aircraft at Aviastar-SP plant is planned for 2008.
“The abovementioned project should become international”, “Ukraine Promishlennaya” (“Ukraine Industrial”),” quoted Russian and Ukrainian companies representatives. “Therefore the presentation object in Germany is to draw attention of investors, potential customers and other interested parties,” noted Mr. Isaikin. According to him, the blueprint assumes to obtain investment resources amounting to USD400 mln.
In his opinion, airspace and energy companies, Governments of various countries and international organizations may become An 124 customers. Isaikin mentioned Russian Ministry of Defense, United Arab Emirates and NATO as the most promising customers.
Anatoly Mialitsa, General Director of “Antonov” National Union” state aircraft corporation, thinks that in due time Ukraine didn’t boost enough its own achievements in aircraft building sphere. “Now, with Ukrainian and Russian potential, that has become possible,” he said. Therefore it was decided to make the presentation of one of the first international projects in Germany, which, according to Mialitsa, remains one of the most important “Antonov” partners in the world. In particular, An-124 aircraft will participate in NATO SALIS program next year just in Leipzig.
