Saturday, August 28, 2010

Antonov ASTC president: First An-178 may take off in 2012


August 28, 2010 (UKRINFORM). According to Dmytro Kiva, the president and chief designer of the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC), the first medium-range transport aircraft An-178 will be built by the end of 2012.
"We believe that the first model of An-178 will take off in 2012, naturally, with adequate funding and settlement of some other issues," Kiva said.
According to him, the structure of the An-178 plane will be largely similar to the design of An-158. In particular, it concerns on-board equipment, including 57 digital systems. An-178 will differ from its predecessor by engines with increased thrust and the rear fuselage with folding ramp for loading and unloading. The designed aircraft can carry both civil self-propelled and military equipment, cargo in containers, evacuate the sick and wounded, and deliver troops to the destination, as well as landing paratroopers. An-178 payload will be up to 15 tons. In June Kiva announced about the designing of a medium-range transport aircraft An-178, which is to occupy a niche of the An-12 and Lockheed C-130 Hercules (USA) aircrafts. He also predicted a low price for the An-178 airlifters compared with analogues and expressed interest in this aircraft by airlines of different countries, including Russia.


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