More AN-124s On The Way? Antonov Signs Agreement With Key Customers
Related Stories: Contracts - Intent, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, Russia, Transport & Utility
One rocket, to go…
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Antonov’s AN-124 Condor began as a Soviet super-heavy military transport aircraft that would be even larger than the American C-5 Galaxy. After coming out on top in that particular ‘mine is bigger than yours’ contest, the AN-124 outdid its American rivals again by going on to a surprising second career in the civilian sector, where it has become the de facto global standard superheavy cargo aircraft for outsize loads, a market that may rise to $500 million by 2010. Boeing’s Even old archrival NATO now uses them, via its SALIS lease of 6 AN-124s to meet the military transport needs of 17 participating nations.
The AN-124s are accumulating fatigue hours, however, and some have yet to be upgraded to newer versions. Meanwhile, DID’s SALIS article pointed out that Volga-Dnepr chairman Alexei Isaikin had forecast AN-124 capacity shortages by 2008. Hence the December 15, 2006 negotiations held at ANTONOV ASTC headquarters with key customers Volga-Dnepr Airline JSC and Aviastar JSC.
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Air Force Technology observes that in September 2004, the governments of Russia and the Ukraine announced that series production of the An-124 would be restarted, with to 80 An-124-100M upgraded aircraft to be jointly manufactured by Aviastar and Aviant between 2006-2020.
Evidence of this has been thin on the ground up until now, but an Antonov release now confirms that representatives of ANTONOV ASTC, Volga-Dnepr Airline JSC and Aviastar JSC signed an “agreement on modernization and construction of AN-124 Ruslan aircraft family.”
Upgrades that let the AN-124 operate with a decreased crew, offer increased range of flight and payload, add new engine options that meet the newest ICAO standards, and incorporate modernized avionics can now be carried out under this framework, whose details have not been publicly released. Aviastar JSC Executive Director Mr. V. Savotchenko, hinted at concrete arrangements for further production when he said that ”...the plant did not stop production of the airplanes. That is why we are ready to renovate serial production of the airplanes, the giants of AN-124 family.”
See Antonov ASTC press release.
UPDATES:
April 27/07: The new Ruslan AN-124-100M-150 has completed tests. Antonov announces the completion of Russian GosNII GA and GosNII Aeronavigatsiya certification tests for the new AN-124-100M-150. Documentation is now being prepared for consideration by the Interstate Aviation Committee, in order to obtain their certificate for the AN-124-100M-150.
