Antonov An-225 Mriya
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The Antonov An-225 Mriya ( uk, Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, lit=dream' or 'inspiration;
NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
: Cossack) was a
strategic airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distance ...
cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of air cargo, cargo rather than passenger aircraft, passengers. Such aircraft usually ...
designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. It was originally developed during the 1980s as an enlarged derivative of the
Antonov An-124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrain ...
airlifter for the express purpose of transporting ''Buran''-class orbiters. On 21 December 1988, the An-225 performed its
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
; only a single example was ever completed, although a second airframe with a slightly different configuration was partially built. After a brief period of use supporting the Soviet space program, the aircraft was mothballed during the early 1990s. Towards the turn of the century, it was decided to refurbish the An-225 and reintroduced it for commercial operations, carrying oversized payloads for the operator
Antonov Airlines Antonov Airlines is a Ukrainian cargo airline, a division of the Antonov aviation company. It operates international charter services in the oversized-cargo market. Its main base is Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. In the aftermath of the Battle o ...
. Multiple announcements were made regarding the potential completion of the second airframe, however its construction has largely remained on hold due to a lack of funding. By 2009, it had reportedly been brought up to 60–70% completion. With a maximum takeoff weight of , the An-225 held several records, including heaviest aircraft ever built and largest
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of any aircraft in operational service. It was commonly used to transport objects once thought impossible to move by air, such as 130-ton generators,
wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
blades, and
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s. Additionally, both Chinese and Russian officials had announced separate plans to adapt the An-225 for use in their respective space programmes. The Mriya routinely attracted a high degree of public interest, attaining a global following due to its size and its uniqueness. The only completed An-225 was destroyed in the
Battle of Antonov Airport The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the Battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Hostomel Airport, Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive (2022), Kyiv offensive of the 2022 ...
during the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. On 20 May 2022, Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
announced plans to complete the second An-225 to replace the destroyed aircraft.


Development

Work on what would become the Antonov An 225 would begin in 1984 with a request from the Soviet government for a large airlifter as a replacement for the
Myasishchev VM-T The Myasishchev VM-T ''Atlant'' ( Russian: ''Мясищев ВМ-Т «Атлант»'' ( "Atlas"), with the "VM-T" ("BM-T") standing for Vladimir MyasishchevTransport) was a variant of Myasishchev's M-4 ''Molot'' bomber (the "3M"), re-purposed ...
. The specifics of this request included the ability to carry a maximum payload of 551,116lb (both externally and internally) while operating from any runway of at least 11,500ft. As originally set out, the mission and objectives were broadly identical to that of the United States'
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short range 747-100SR. The SCAs were used t ...
, having been designed to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the ''Buran''-class orbiters for the
Soviet space program The Soviet space program (russian: Космическая программа СССР, Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR) was the national space program of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissoluti ...
. Furthermore, a relatively short timetable for the delivery of the completed aircraft meant that development would have to proceed at a rapid pace. Accordingly, the Antonov Design Bureau decided to produce a derivative of their existing
Antonov An-124 Ruslan The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrain ...
airlifter, although its payload capacity was almost half of what was required. The aircraft was stretched via the addition of fore and aft fuselage barrel sections, while a new enlarged wing centre was designed that facilitated the carriage of an additional pair of
Progress D-18T The Progress D-18T (or Lotarev D-18T) is a high-bypass turbofan that powers the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 large freighters. Design and development The engine was developed in the second half of the 1970s by the then Soviet Ivchenko-Pro ...
turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engines, increasing the total from four to six powerplants. A completely new tail was also required to handle the
wake turbulence Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes variety of elements, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash refers to the rapidly moving g ...
generated by the bulky external loads that would be carried on the aircraft's upper fuselage.Fricker 1990, p. 58. Despite the novelty of its scale, the design of the An 225 was largely conventional.Fricker 1990, p. 57. The lead designer of the An-225 (and the An-124) was
Viktor Tolmachev Viktor Tolmachev (11 August 1934 – 7 June 2018) was a Russian engineer. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and chief designer of the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya transport aircraft. Biography Tolmachev was b ...
. On 21 December 1988, the An-225 performed its
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
.Eisenstein 2003, p. 34. It made its first public appearance outside of the Soviet Union at the 1989
Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...
where it was presented while carrying a Buran orbiter.Fricker 1990, p. 56. One year later, it performed a flying display for the public days at the
Farnborough Air Show The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...
. While two aircraft had been ordered, only a single An-225, (
registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...
''CCCP-82060'', later ''UR-82060'') was finished. It could carry ultra-heavy and oversized freight weighing up to internally or on the upper fuselage. Cargo on the upper fuselage can be up to in length. A second An-225 was partially built during the late 1980s for the Soviet space program, however, work on the airframe was suspended following the collapse of the Soviet Union. By 2000, the need for additional An-225 capacity had become apparent; during September 2006, it was decided that the second An-225 would be completed, a feat that was at one point scheduled to occur around 2008. However, the work was subject to repeated delays. By August 2009, the aircraft had not been completed and work had been abandoned. In May 2011, the Antonov CEO reportedly stated that the completion of the second An-225, which would have a carrying capacity of 250 tons, requires at least $300 million; upon the provision of sufficient financing, its completion could be achieved in three years. According to different sources, the second aircraft was 60–70% complete by 2016. The revival of space activities involving the An-225 was repeatedly announced and speculated upon throughout its life. During the early 2000s, studies were conducted into the production of an even larger An-225 derivative, the eight-engined Antonov An-325, which was to intended to be used in conjunction with Russia's in-development
MAKS space plane The MAKS (Multipurpose aerospace system) (Russian: МАКС (Многоцелевая авиационно-космическая система)) is a Soviet air-launched orbiter reusable launch system project that was proposed in 1988, but canc ...
. In April 2013, the Russian government announced plans to revive Soviet-era
air launch Air launching is the practice of releasing a rocket, missile, parasite aircraft or other aircraft payload from a mother ship or launch aircraft. The payload craft or missile is often tucked under the wing of the larger mother ship and then "drop ...
projects that would use a purpose-built modification to the An-225 as a midair launchpad. In May 2017, Airspace Industry Corporation of China (AICC)'s president, Zhang You-Sheng, informed a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
reporter that AICC had first contemplated cooperation with Antonov in 2009 and made contact with them two years later. AICC intends to modernize the second unfinished An-225 and develop it into an
air launch to orbit Air launch to orbit (ALTO) is the method of launching smaller rockets at altitude from a heavier conventional horizontal-takeoff aircraft, to carry satellites to low Earth orbit. It is a follow-on development of air launches of experimental air ...
platform for commercial
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
s at altitudes up to . The aviation media cast doubt on the production restart, speculating that the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict would prevent various necessary components that would have been sourced from Russia from being delivered; it may be possible that China could manufacture them instead. That project did not move forward but UkrOboronProm, the parent company of Antonov, had continued to seek partners to finish the second airframe. On 25 March 2020, the first An-225 commenced a series of test flights from
Hostomel Airport Antonov Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Антонов» ), also known as Hostomel (or Gostomel) Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Гостомель»), is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located near Hostomel, w ...
near Kyiv, after more than a year out of service, for the installation of a domestically designed power management and control system.


Design

The Antonov An-225 was a
strategic airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distance ...
cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of air cargo, cargo rather than passenger aircraft, passengers. Such aircraft usually ...
that retained many similarities with the preceding An-124 airlifter that it was derived from. It has a longer fuselage and cargo deck due to the addition of fuselage barrel extensions that were fitted both fore and aft of the wings. The wings, which are anhedral, also received root extensions to increase their span. The
flight control surfaces Aircraft flight control surfaces are aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude. Development of an effective set of flight control surfaces was a critical advance in the development of aircraft. Ea ...
are controlled via
fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control co ...
and powered by triple-redundant
hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
. Furthermore, the
empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...
of the An-225 is a
twin tail A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircra ...
with an oversized, swept-back
horizontal stabilizer A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...
, having been redesigned from the single
vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...
of the An-124. The use of a twin tail arrangement was essential to enable the aircraft to carry its bulky external loads that would generate
wake turbulence Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes variety of elements, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash refers to the rapidly moving g ...
, disturbing the
airflow Airflow, or air flow, is the movement of air. The primary cause of airflow is the existence of air. Air behaves in a fluid manner, meaning particles naturally flow from areas of higher pressure to those where the pressure is lower. Atmospheric a ...
around a conventional tail.Eisenstein 2003, p. 35. The An-225 is powered by a total of six
Progress D-18T The Progress D-18T (or Lotarev D-18T) is a high-bypass turbofan that powers the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 large freighters. Design and development The engine was developed in the second half of the 1970s by the then Soviet Ivchenko-Pro ...
turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engines, two more than the An-124, the addition of which was facilitated by the redesigned
wing root The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage,Peppler, I.L.: ''From The Ground Up'', page 9. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, Ottawa Ontario, Twenty Seventh Revised Edition, 1996 ...
area. An increased-capacity
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
system with 32 wheels was designed, some of which are steerable; these enable the airlifter to turn within a runway. Akin to its An-124 predecessor, the An-225 incorporated a nose gear designed to "kneel" so cargo can be more easily loaded and unloaded.Fricker 1990, pp. 58-59. Additional measures to ease loading and unloading activities included the four overhead cargo cranes that could move along the whole length of the cargo hold, each of which was capable of lifting up to 11,000lb. To facilitate the attachment of external loads, such as the Buran orbiter, various mounting points were present along the upper surface of the fuselage. Unlike the An-124, the An-225 was not intended for tactical airlifting and was not designed for short-field operations. Accordingly, the An-225 does not have a rear cargo door or ramp, as are present on the An-124, these features having been eliminated in order to save weight. The
cargo hold 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Access to ho ...
was in volume; wide, high, and long—longer than the first flight of the Wright Flyer. The cargo hold, which is
pressurized {{Wiktionary Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by ...
and furnished with extensive
soundproofing Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound wav ...
, could contain up to 80 standard-dimension cars, 16
intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode of transport, modes of trans ...
s, or up to 551,150lb of general cargo. The flight deck of the An-225 is at the front of the upper deck, which is accessed via a ladder from the lower deck. This flight deck is largely identical to that of the An-124, save for the presence of additional controls to manage the additional pair of engines. To the rear of the flight deck is an array of compartments which, amongst other things, accommodate the crew stations for the aircraft's two flight engineers, navigator, and communication specialist, along with off-duty rest areas, including beds, which facilitate long range missions to be flown. Even when fully loaded, the An-225 was capable of flying non-stop across great distances, such as between
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
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. As originally constructed, the An-225 had a maximum gross weight of , however, between 2000 and 2001, the aircraft received numerous modifications at a cost of million, such as the addition of a reinforced floor, which increased the maximum gross weight to .Gordon and Komissarov 2004, p. 76. Both the earlier and later takeoff weights establish the An-225 as the world's heaviest aircraft, exceeding the weight of the double-deck
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
airliner. Airbus claims to have improved upon the An-225's maximum landing weight by landing an A380 at during testing.


Operational history

The Antonov An-225 Mriya was originally operated between 1988 and 1991 as the prime method of transporting ''Buran''-class orbiters for the Soviet space program. "
Antonov Airlines Antonov Airlines is a Ukrainian cargo airline, a division of the Antonov aviation company. It operates international charter services in the oversized-cargo market. Its main base is Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. In the aftermath of the Battle o ...
" was concurrently founded in 1989 after it was set up as a holding company by the Antonov Design Bureau as a heavy airlift shipping corporation. This company was to be based in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine, and operate from
London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by ...
in partnership with Air Foyle HeavyLift. While operations began with a fleet of four An-124-100s and three
Antonov An-12 The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than thr ...
s, the need for aircraft larger than the An-124 became apparent by the late 1990s. By this time, the Soviet Union was no longer in existence and the ''Buran'' programme had been terminated; consequentially, the sole completed An-225 was left unused and without a purpose. As early as 1990, Antonov officials were openly speaking on their ambitions for the aircraft to enter commercial use.Fricker 1990, p. 59. Despite this, in 1994, it was decided to put the An-225 into long-term storage. During this time, all six of its engines were removed for use on various An-124s, while the second uncompleted An-225 airframe was also stored. As the 1990s progressed, it became clear that there was sufficient demand for a cargoliner even bigger than the An-124. Accordingly, it was decided that the first An-225 would be restored."Antonov An-225 Mriya (Cossack) Heavy Lift Strategic Long-Range Transport"
''Military Factory'', 23 August 2012. Retrieved: 2 August 2020.
The aircraft was re-engined, received modifications to modernise and better adapt it to heavy cargo transport operations, and placed back in service under the management of Antonov Airlines. It became the workhorse of the Antonov Airlines fleet, transporting objects once thought impossible to move by air, such as 130-ton generators,
wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
blades, and even
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s. It also became an asset to international relief organizations for its ability to quickly transport huge quantities of emergency supplies during multiple disaster-relief operations. Under Antonov Airlines, the An-225 received its type certificate from the Interstate Aviation Committee Aviation Register (IAC AR) on 23 May 2001. The type's first flight in commercial service departed from
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Germany, on 3 January 2002, and flew to
Thumrait, Oman Thumrait ( ar, ثمريت) is a small town and wilayat (province) of the Dhofar Governorate in southern Oman. In ancient times Thumrait was an important point on the Arabian peninsula's caravan routes. Frankincense trees, an important crop, used ...
, with 216,000 prepared meals for American military personnel based in the region. This vast number of ready meals was transported on 375 pallets and weighed 187.5 tons. The An-225 was later contracted by the Canadian and U.S. governments to transport military supplies to the Middle East in support of coalition forces. An example of the cost of shipping cargo by An-225 was over (about ) for flying a chimney duct from Billund, Denmark, to Kazakhstan in 2004. During 2016, Antonov Airlines ceased cooperation with Air Foyle and partnered with
Volga-Dnepr Volga-Dnepr Airlines, LLC (russian: ООО «Авиакомпания «Волга-Днепр») is an airline based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It specializes in providing air charter services by operating a unique fleet of twelve Antonov An-124 (lar ...
instead. This in turn led to the An-225's blue and yellow paint scheme which was added in 2009. When the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
impacted the world in early 2020, the An-225 participated in the relief effort by conducting flights to deliver medical supplies from China to other parts of the world. The aircraft was popular with aviation enthusiasts, who frequently visited airports to view its scheduled arrivals and departures.


Records

On 11 August 2009, the heaviest single cargo item ever sent by air was loaded onto the An-225. At long and wide, its consignment, a generator for a gas power plant in Armenia along with its loading frame, represented a payload of ,Cargo manifest picture
''Air Cargo News'' 13 November 2009. Retrieved: 30 May 2012.
It also transported a total payload of on a commercial flight. On 11 September 2001, carrying four
main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...
s at a record load of of cargo, the An-225 flew at an altitude of up to over a closed circuit of at a speed of . During 2017, the hired cost was () per hour. On 11 June 2010, the An-225 carried the world's longest piece of air cargo, two test
wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
blades from
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, China, to Skrydstrup, Denmark. On 27 September 2012, the An-225 hosted the highest altitude art exhibition in the world at above sea level during the AviaSvit-XX1 Aerospace Show at
Antonov Airport Antonov Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Антонов» ), also known as Hostomel (or Gostomel) Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Гостомель»), is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located near Hostomel, wh ...
. The exhibition was part of the Globus Gallery based in Kyiv and consisted of 500 artworks by 120 Ukrainian artists.


Destruction

The aircraft's last commercial mission was from 2 to 5 February 2022, to collect almost 90 tons of COVID-19 test kits from
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, China and deliver them to Billund in Denmark, via
Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
, Kyrgyzstan. From there, it returned on 5 February to its base at
Antonov Airport Antonov Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Антонов» ), also known as Hostomel (or Gostomel) Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Гостомель»), is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located near Hostomel, wh ...
in
Hostomel Hostomel ( uk, Гостомель, ) is a city in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, northwest of the capital city of Kyiv. It hosts the administration of Hostomel settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of the settlement is app ...
, where it underwent an engine swap. On the advice of NATO it was prepared for evacuation, scheduled for the morning of 24 February, but on that day Russia invaded, with the airfield being one of their first targets. A ban on civilian flights was quickly enacted by Ukrainian authorities. During the ensuing
Battle of Antonov Airport The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the Battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Hostomel Airport, Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive (2022), Kyiv offensive of the 2022 ...
, the runway was rendered unusable. On 24 February, the An-225 was said to be intact. On 27 February, a photo was posted on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
of an object tentatively identified as the An-225 on fire in its hangar. A report by the Ukrainian edition of
Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
stated that the airplane was destroyed during the Battle of Antonov Airport, which was repeated by Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( uk, Дмитро Іванович Кулеба; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and communications specialist, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also concurrently a member ...
and by
Ukroboronprom , type = State-owned enterprise , location = , industry = Conglomerate: Defense industry , predecessor = , founded = , founder = , hq_location_city = Kyiv , hq_location_country = Ukraine , num_locations = , num_locations_year = , ...
, Antonov's parent organisation. The Antonov company initially refused to confirm or deny the reports, and said it was still investigating them. Also on 27 February, a press release by Ukroboronprom stated that the An-225 had been destroyed by Russian forces. Several other aircraft were in the same hangar as the An-225 at the time of its destruction, and were also destroyed or damaged during the battle; these include a Hungarian-registered
Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly ...
, which was crushed by the An-225's left wingtip after the latter fell on top of it. Ukroboronprom said that they planned to rebuild the plane at the Russians' expense. The statement said: "The restoration is estimated to take over 3 billion USD and over five years. Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine's aviation and the air cargo sector." The Ukrainian government also said that it would be rebuilt.


Aftermath

On 1 March, a new photograph, taken since the initial conflict, was tentatively identified as the tail of the aircraft protruding from its hangar, suggesting that it remained at least partly intact, however, further evidence proved to show that the aircraft is inoperable due to the extreme damage it sustained. On 3 March, a video circulated on social media, showing the aircraft burning inside the hangar alongside several Russian trucks, confirming its likely destruction. Nonetheless, Antonov stated again that until the aircraft is inspected by experts, its official status could not be fully known. On 4 March, footage on Russian state television Channel One showed the first clear ground images of the destroyed aircraft, with much of the front section missing. Following Russia's withdrawal from northern Ukraine, the second unfinished aircraft airframe was reported to be intact, despite Russian artillery strikes on the hangar housing it at the Antonov factory at Sviatoshyn airfield. Major Dmytro Antonov, the pilot of the An-225, alleged on 19 March 2022 that Antonov Airlines knew that an invasion was imminent for quite some time, but did nothing to prevent the loss of the aircraft. In his YouTube channel, Dmytro accused the management of the company of not doing enough to prevent the destruction of the aircraft, after having been advised by NATO to move the aircraft (ready to fly status) to
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
, Germany, in advance. Multiple Antonov staff have denied his allegations. On 1 April, drone footage of Hostomel Airport showed the destroyed Mriya, with the forward fuselage completely burned and destroyed, but with the wings partly intact. Investigations into rebuilding the An-225 are being undertaken, including the possibilities of cannibalising the second, incomplete An-225, or salvaging the remnants of the first plane to finish the second. However, there are several obstacles to rebuilding. Many of the aircraft's Soviet-made components were from the 1980s and are no longer made. Engineers quote a price of US$350–500 million, although there is uncertainty regarding whether or not it would be commercially viable and worth the cost. However, Andrii Sovenko, a former An-225 pilot and aviation author, said: On 20 May 2022, Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
announced his intentions to complete the second An-225, to replace the destroyed aircraft and as a tribute to all the Ukrainian pilots killed during the war. In November 2022, Antonov confirmed plans to rebuild the aircraft at an estimated cost of $500 million. The company did not state whether parts from the wrecked aircraft and the incomplete airframe would be combined to create a new flying aircraft or where funding might come from.


Former operators

; *
Antonov Airlines Antonov Airlines is a Ukrainian cargo airline, a division of the Antonov aviation company. It operates international charter services in the oversized-cargo market. Its main base is Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. In the aftermath of the Battle o ...
for Soviet ''Buran'' program, the company (and aircraft) passed to Ukraine after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. ; * Antonov Airlines for commercial operations from 3 January 2002, until 24 February 2022, the sole aircraft was destroyed during the
Battle of Antonov Airport The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the Battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Hostomel Airport, Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive (2022), Kyiv offensive of the 2022 ...
.


Variants

;An-224 :Original proposal with a rear cargo door. Not built. ;An-225 :Variant without the rear cargo door. One built, second aircraft incomplete. ;An-225-100 :Designation applied to the An-225 after its 2000 modernization. Upgrades included a traffic collision avoidance system, improved communications and navigation equipment, and noise reduction features. ;An-325 :Proposed enlarged, eight-engined aircraft, specifically designed to launch spacecraft of various purposes into orbit. Initially built for the MAKS program, the An-325 eventually evolved to a joint cooperation between
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
and the Soviet Ministry of Aviation Industry as a part of the Interim HOTOL program. It remains unbuilt. ;AKS :Intended to carry the
Tupolev OOS Tupolev (russian: Ту́полев, ), officially Joint Stock Company Tupolev, is a Russian aerospace and Arms industry, defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow. Tupolev is successor to the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau (OKB-15 ...
air-launch-to-orbit Air launch to orbit (ALTO) is the method of launching smaller rockets at altitude from a heavier conventional horizontal-takeoff aircraft, to carry satellites to low Earth orbit. It is a follow-on development of air launches of experimental air ...
spaceplane; a twin-fuselage design consisting of two An-225 fuselages, with the OOS to be carried under the raised center wing. Multiple engine configurations were proposed, ranging from 18 Progress D-18T turbofans to as many as 40 engines, with placements both above and below the wings. An alternative design for the AKS was to use entirely new fuselages, each with a single tail. The AKS was deemed unfeasible, and no prototypes were ever built.


Specifications


See also


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links

* *
Official An-225 web page

An-225 – buran-energia.com

Payloads

Flight Data Recorder
{{Authority control
An-225 The Antonov An-225 Mriya ( uk, Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, lit=dream' or 'inspiration; NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was o ...
Buran program 1980s Soviet cargo aircraft Six-engined jet aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1988 Aircraft related to spaceflight Twin-tail aircraft Individual aircraft 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine February 2022 events in Ukraine