The Antonov An-178 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-178) is a short-range medium-airlift military transport aircraft designed by the Ukrainian Antonov company and based on the Antonov An-158 (An-148-200).
An-178 is a high-wing transport aircraft with moderately swept wing, winglets and a T-tail. The wing outer panels (including winglets), front fuselage with cockpit and nosewheel leg come from the An-158. The cargo hold is slightly enlarged, and there is an extra pair of main-wheels on each side. The airframe is made of aluminium alloys and composite materials. The fuselage is semi-monocoque with a circular cross-section. The retractable landing gear consists of two main wheel bogies and a dual nose wheel. The flight control system is dual duplex fly-by-wire system, consisting of two parts: FCS-A and FCS-B, each of which is responsible for two control channels. The flight control surfaces include ailerons near the wing tips, four control spoilers, six lift-dump/speed-brake spoilers, rudder and elevators, with an emergency mechanical cable back-up system. The powerplant consists of two Progress D-436-148FM turbofan engines, mounted on pylons under the wings and an auxiliary power unit. It can shift 18 tonnes over 1,000 km, or 10 tonnes over 4,000 km.
The aircraft was derived from the 99-seat An-158 regional airliner and was fitted with the commonized F1 fuselage nose section with the identical flight deck, wing panels, empennage and most of the onboard systems. The fuselage however was newly created with an enlarged diameter that had grown from 3.35 m to 3.9 m, which has resulted in an enlarged cargo hold – the cargo cabin cross section increased to 2.75 m by 2.75 m. Aside from the wing structure, outer panels (including winglets), front fuselage nose, cockpit and nose landing gear which come from the An-158, there is an extra pair of tandem main-wheels on each side.
The An-178 was previously known as the An-148T. The aircraft made its Western debut at the 2015 Paris Air Show.
It was announced on 5 February 2010, rolled out on 16 April 2015 and the maiden flight was on 7 May 2015.
There are reports that future production-standard aircraft will have a longer wingspan while retaining the organic wing panels of the An-158. Its maximal take-off weight would increase to an estimated 56 tons. Later production variants would need turbofan engines with a thrust of about 9,500 kgf to have the characteristics required. The planned engine may be the new-generation in-development Ivchenko-Progress AI-28 turbofan. The decision was made to fit the An-178 prototype with less powerful D-436-148FM engines in the interim. The D-436-148FM is a derivative of the production-standard D-436-148 with an upgraded fan, which boosted the takeoff thrust to 7,800 kgf and at emergency power rating to 8,580 kgf.
Powerplant: 2 × Progress D-436-148FM Turbofan, 73.55 kN (16,534 lbf)
Wingspan: 30.57 m (100 ft 4 in)
Length: 32.23 m (105 ft 9 in)
Height: 9.57 m (31 ft 5 in)
Max takeoff weight: 51,000 kg (112,436 lb)
Fuel capacity: 14,650 kg (32,298 lb)
Max landing weight: 47,000 kg (103,617 lb)
Maximum speed: 990 km/h (620 mph, 530 kn)
Cruise speed: 825 km/h (513 mph, 445 kn)
Range: 4,700 km (2,900 mi, 2,500 nmi)
Ferry range: 5,300 km (3,300 mi, 2,900 nmi)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Landing distance: 2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Crew: 2
Capacity: 90 soldiers, 70 paratroopers, 48 on stretchers +15 seated, 8 medical modules and 12, or 16 tons of cargo, overload variant 18 tons.
All Aero 