The An-225 Mriya (dream) stemmed from the need to transport large items for the Soviet space programme. In mid-1985 Antonov began the design and the An-124 provided the basis for the new aircraft, Antonov using many of the same components to keep cost and development effort down. Standard An-124, wings are grafted on to a new centre section, thereby increasing the span while keeping the engine installations the same. An additional pair of D-36T turbofans is fitted to the new centre section.

Antonov An-225 Mriya Article

The cabin retains the same cross-sectional dimensions but with increased length, and to save weight the rear loading ramp is removed, but the An-225 retains the nose visor.

To support the increased weight, seven pairs of wheels are fitted to each side as opposed to five in the An-124.
Outsize loads are carried ‘piggy-back’, the load supported on two main attachments above the centre section. These supports and other smaller ones along the fuselage top are faired over when not in use. To avoid buffeting from the ‘piggyback’ load, the An-225 has twin vertical fins mounted on the end of a large tailplane.

The prototype made its first flight on 21 December 1988 from Hostomel Airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, and the first flew with Buran on 13 May 1989 from Baikonur cosmodrome. This combination appeared at the Paris air show in 1989, car¬rying the 62.1 tonne (136,684 lb) Buran on its back.

On 22 March 1989, in the course of a single 3 hr 30 minute flight from Kiev, the An-225 set 105 world and class records. With a payload of 344,576 lb / 156,300 kg, the machine took off at a weight of 1,120,370 lb / 508,200 kg. It proceeded to fly a 1243 mile / 2000 km closed circuit at an average speed of 505.24 mph / 813.09 kph and to reach a maximum altitude of 40,485 ft / 12,340 m.

Typically, the An-225 carries two pilots, two flight engineers and two navigators, the flight system incorporating fly-by-wire controls. NATO name Cossack.

The Antonov An-225 has been extensively modified since 1988 with its six engines being updated and a strengthened fuselage being among the many changes.

The first commercial flight was performed by the An-225 in May, 1990. A T-800 tractor weighing more than 100 tons was delivered from Chelyabinsk to Yakutia.

After the collapse of the USSR the only plane stopped flying in 1994 and some parts were disassembled to be used on other planes. However by the 2000s it was restored by efforts of some Ukrainian companies. The airliner was amended a bit to meet the standards of civil aviation first flying aain on the 7th of May, 2001.

Antonov planned to finish building a second An-225 if they have financial support. 70% was ready; the centre wing-section, fuselage and a wing remained since the Soviet times. If they had a customer they would finish it, requiring $150 million.

Gallery

Antonov An-225 / Molniya Buran Gallery

An-225 Mriya (Cossack)
Engines: 6 x ZMKB Progress (Lotarev) D-18T turbofan, 225140 N / 22950 kp / 51,587lbs thrust
Length: 84.0 m / 275 ft 7 in
Height: 18.2 m / 59 ft 9 in
Wingspan: 290 ft / 88.4 m
Wing area: 905.0 sq.m / 9741.33 sq ft
Empty Weight: 385,809lbs (175,000kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight: 1,322,774lbs (600,000kg)
Max. weight carried: 661500.0 lb / 300000.0 kg
Wing load: 128.74 lb/sq.ft / 628.0 kg/sq.m
Maximum Speed: 528mph (850kmh; 459kts)
Landing speed: 135 kts / 250 km/h
Cruising speed: 432 kts / 800 km/h
Range w/max.fuel: 15400 km / 9569 miles
Range w/max.payload: 4500 km / 2796 miles
Service Ceiling: 36,089ft (11,000m)
Internal cargo hold: 43m x 6.4m x 4.4m.
Crew: 4-6 +23

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.

The Antonov An-148 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-148) is a regional jet designed and built by Antonov of Ukraine.

The beginning of the An-148 project dates to the early 1990s, when work on the Antonov An-74 passenger modification started, headed by Petro Balabuev. In 2001, the project was renamed An-148. The An-74 fuselage was extended and the new aircraft’s wing design was created from scratch. The developers initially used Motor Sich D-436-148 engines.

The An-148 aircraft is a high-wing monoplane with two turbofan jet engines mounted in pods under the wing. This arrangement protects the engines and wing structure against foreign object damage. A built-in autodiagnosis system, auxiliary power unit, and the wing configuration allow the An-148 to be used at poorly equipped airfields. Flight and navigation equipment features five 15 by 20 cm (5.9 by 7.9 in) liquid crystal display panels built by Russia’s Aviapribor and a fly-by-wire system.

The main landing gear rotates into the belly of the aircraft when in flight, with partial doors covering the legs, and the sides of the tires remaining exposed. Built-in entrance stairs enable boarding and disembarking the aircraft without extra ground equipment.

The An-148-100 regional aircraft is the main model of the An-148. It seats 70 passengers at 864 mm (34.0 in) or up to 80 passengers at 762 mm (30.0 in) pitch in a one-class 2+3 seating layout. The aircraft is also configurable in a multiple-class layout which can carry fewer passengers, typically with four abreast business class.

In 2002, production of the first three prototypes was begun at AVIANT. On 17 December 2004, the first prototype completed its maiden flight. The second prototype joined the testing programme in April 2005. During the certification programme, the two prototypes performed about 600 flights in total. On 26 February 2007, the aircraft, its D-436-148 engine and the AI-450-МS auxiliary power unit were certified by the Interstate Aviation Committee of Russia and the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine.

The aircraft completed its certification programme on 26 February 2007. The An-148 has a maximum range of 2,100–4,400 km (1,100–2,400 nmi; 1,300–2,700 mi) and is able to carry 68–85 passengers, depending on the configuration.

The An-148 was manufactured by the Ukrainian Kyiv AVIANT plant (now Antonov Serial Production Plant) and Russia’s Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO). On 28 June 2009, the first serially produced An-148, manufactured at VASO in Voronezh, took to the skies. Although numerous companies are involved in the project, at least 70% of the aircraft’s hardware is made by Russian manufacturers. The An-148’s list price is about $24–30 million. The main problem with the project has been increasing the aircraft’s sluggish production rate. The then-independent AVIANT plant initially failed to satisfy to growing orders, leading to VASO’s growing involvement in the aircraft’s assembly. VASO announced in June 2017 that the two final Russian-assembled An-148s would be delivered, and the project would not see further development.

In April 2005, the Ilyushin Finance Leasing Company ordered the first series of An-148 for the Krasair airline. Lease agreement calls for ten aircraft with an option for five units valued at $270 million.

The Antonov An-158 is a stretched fuselage version of the aircraft, accommodating up to 100 passengers.

The An-158 is a 1.7m stretched fuselage version for 99 passengers in a one-class standard configuration. Other changes include the installation of wingtip fences. The airplane successfully completed its first flight on 28 April 2010, with flight certification tests were planned to be completed before the end of 2010; on 3 March 2011, it was given Russian certification.

After flight and land test in night lands airports of Ecuador (Latacunga / Cotopaxi International Airport, 2806 m AMSL) and Bolivia (La Paz / El Alto International Airport, 4061 m AMSL) in November 2013 prepare documentation for obtaining correspondent supplements to the type certificate of this airplane.

On 2 June 2009, the first An-148 entered commercial service with the Ukrainian carrier Aerosvit. The first passenger flight was from Kharkiv to Kyiv; the aircraft had the civilian registration UR-NTA. By November 2009, Aerosvit was operating the An-148 on the Kyiv–Odessa and Simferopol–Lviv routes, performing two flights a day with the average flight time of 4–5 hours.

On 21 December 2009, the An-148 was put into service in Russia with Rossiya airline. The first passenger flight was FV135 from Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow. By 20 May 2010, Rossiya’s An-148 fleet had accumulated a total of 915 flight hours and performed 710 landings. Rossiya complained that the aircraft experienced some reliability problems. There were some technical problems with the aircraft, and pilot training could not be ramped up fast enough, leading to pilot shortages. However, by 2011 the situation had improved.

On 15 February 2010, the An-148 started international flights to the European Union (Poland) with the Aerosvit airline.

On 18 April 2013, the first serial An-158 version was delivered to the Cuban flagship airline Cubana de Aviación. According to Antonov, Cubana additionally ordered two more aircraft, while other sources report this order to be for ten aircraft. On 28 April 2013, Ukraine’s Antonov aircraft maker handed over a third An-158 passenger airliner to Cuba and signed a contract for the delivery of three more.

Following a crash in February 2018, all An-148 and An-158 in Russia were grounded by the Russian Ministry of Transport. In addition, Cubana grounded its An-158 fleet as of May 2018 due to several technical issues with the aircraft. Until late 2018, the Antonov An-148 aircraft was also being produced in Russia by Voronezh Aircraft Production Association; however, due to the souring political relationship between Ukraine and Russia, production in Russia was discontinued. The last Russian-built An-148 was completed in October 2018.

In April 2016, Indian company Reliance defense limited and Antonov entered into an agreement to construct an aircraft based on An 148/ An 158 for defense and commercial purposes.

In April 2017, Cubana de Aviación suspended its flights between Havana and Guantánamo due to “technical problems” with its An-158 fleet. The route from Havana to Holguín also had problems: of 116 planned flights in the first months of 2017, 38 were cancelled and 36 suffered significant delays. Yoanka Acosta, head of Cubana’s commercial division, explained that the planes were leased from Ukraine but spare parts were sourced from Russia, so the state of conflict between the two countries had affected the supply of parts, making maintenance difficult. In late April, however, representatives from Antonov and Cubana met and signed a service agreement that extended the aircraft’s navigation directives to 3,600 flights and guaranteed the supply of spare parts, although it did not specify a date for normalization.

In March 2018 Rostransnadzor suspended all flights of An-148 in Russia after crash on 11 February 2018.

In May 2018, Cubana de Aviación grounded its An-158 fleet after it received an order from the Cuban National Aviation Authority. The official reason given by the Cuban National Aviation Authority was “multiple and repeating failures have been found in complex systems, built by mechanical, hydraulic and electrical components, as well as computer performance algorithms”, in addition to “evidence of design and manufacturing flaws, serious issues in flight control system, cracks in the structure and engine temperature increase above normal parameters”.

On 5 March 2011, an Antonov An-148 (assembled by VASO) carrying test registration 61708 crashed during a test flight in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast after an inflight breakup, killing all six crew members on board. An investigation commission found that the crew permitted the aircraft to accelerate more than 60 knots above its “Never Exceed” speed in an emergency descent, which led to the inflight breakup. Witnesses on the ground reported a wing had separated from the aircraft in flight. The aircraft was due to be delivered to Myanmar.

On 11 February 2018, an Antonov An-148 operating as Saratov Airlines Flight 703, crashed shortly after takeoff near Ramenskoye, outside of Moscow. The aircraft was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members. There were no survivors. This is the first fatal commercial accident for this aircraft type.

At least 47 were built.

Versions

An-148-100A
main version of the An-148. It has a passenger capacity of 85 in a one-class dense configuration or 68 in a two-class configuration, and a range of 2,100 km (1,100 nmi; 1,300 mi)

An-148-100B
extended-range version, up to 3,500 km (1,900 nmi; 2,200 mi)

An-148-100E
extended-range version, up to 4,400 km (2,400 nmi; 2,700 mi) and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 43.7 t (43,700 kg; 96,000 lb)

An-148-200
unified with An-158 by the rear part of the fuselage. Hence maximum seating capacity is increased to 89 passengers in dense configuration, comparing to 85 for An-148-100. Planned for production in Kyiv with An-158.

An-148-300
previously called An-168, business variant, seating 8-40 passengers, with a range up to 7,000 km (3,800 nmi; 4,300 mi)

Specifications:

148-100E
Engines: 2 x Progress D-436-148, 14,000 lbf; 63 kN
Wingspan: 28.91 m (94 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 87.32 m2 (939.9 sq ft)
Length: 29.13 m (95 ft 7 in)
Height: 8.19 m (26 ft 10 in)
MTOW: 43,700 kg (96,300 lb)
Max. payload: 9,000 kg (20,000 lb)
OEW: 22,000 kg (49,000 lb)
Max. fuel: 12,050 kg (26,570 lb)
Ceiling: 12,200 m (40,000 ft)
Cruise: 800 to 870 km/h (430 to 470 kn)
Range (75 pax/max): 4,400 km (2,400 nmi)
Fuel burn: 1,650 kg/h (3,600 lb/h)
Take off run (MTOW): 1,885 m (6,184 ft)
Seats: 68–85
Seat pitch: 30–35 in
Cargo: 14.60 m3 (516 cu ft)
Cabin: 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in) width × 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) height
Cockpit crew: 2

An-158
Engines: 2 x Progress D-436, 15,100 lbf; 67.0 kN
Wingspan: 28.91 m (94 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 87.32 m2 (939.9 sq ft)
Length: 30.83 m (101 ft 2 in)
Height: 8.19 m (26 ft 10 in)
MTOW: 43,700 kg (96,300 lb)
Max. payload: 5,000 kg (11,000 lb)
OEW: 22,000 kg (49,000 lb)
Max. fuel: 12,050 kg (26,570 lb)
Ceiling: 12,200 m (40,000 ft)
Cruise: 800 to 870 km/h (430 to 470 kn)
Range (75 pax/max): 2,500 km (1,300 nmi)
Fuel burn: 1,800 kg/h (4,000 lb/h)
Take off run (MTOW): 1,900 m (6,200 ft)
Cockpit crew: 2
Seats: 86–99
Seat pitch: 30–34 in
Cabin: 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in) width × 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) height