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Take off command
The Russian-Ukrainian project to create the An-70 aircraft is close to resumption
The project to create jointly by Russia and Ukraine the military transport aircraft (MTC) An-70 (pictured) can be revived . As Vremya Novostei learned, the fourth meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian working group to resolve legal, financial, organizational and technical issues related to the project to create the Antonov-70 military-technical cooperation took place in Kyiv on Friday. At the previous meeting of the working group, the Ukrainians proposed to effectively complete the project, and the Russians promised to respond. According to Vremya Novostei, the working group supported the joint completion of the project and certification of the new machine by both countries.This conclusion of the working group will be reported by the Russian part of the working group to the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation for Armaments, Army General Nikolai Makarov, and the Ukrainian part - to the Deputy Head of the Military Department of Ukraine Valery Ivashchenko. The final draft decision will be submitted to a meeting of the security subcommittee of the “Yushchenko-Putin commission” (as the Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission is called in Kyiv). Its meeting is scheduled for December 18-20. This will probably mark the end of the long and not always logical history of the joint project. The story of an airplane that, like no other, fits the formulation of one witty aircraft designer: “Not all the best airplanes fly.”
Let us recall that the An-70 was conceived as a medium-range cargo (operational-tactical military transport) aircraft of a new generation. It was intended to replace the morally and physically obsolete An-12. The An-70 is designed as a four-engine turboprop high-wing aircraft with a single-fin tail and a tail cargo hatch. The An-70 first took off in December 1994 in Kyiv. In 1995, during a test flight, the An-70 collided with an escort aircraft and was lost. The second prototype in 2001 was seriously damaged when the engine failed on takeoff. It was soon restored. Anticipating difficulties, in 2002 the Russian and Ukrainian sides made a commitment to share responsibility in equal shares in the event of a production collapse.
The Russian Air Force initially decided to purchase 160 An-70 units, but then canceled the order, citing the very high cost of the transport aircraft: its price turned out to be twice that of its Russian counterparts - Il-214, Tu-330 and Il-76MF. The Ukrainian Air Force has decided to purchase five An-70s.
After the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the future of the An-70 was in question: Russia refused to participate in the project in favor of the Il-76MF, citing the fact that the two aircraft were similar in weight and payload. It should be noted that Russia’s position regarding the An-70 project changed along with the change in the commanders-in-chief of the Air Force. If Anatoly Kornukov was an ardent supporter of the joint project, then Vladimir Mikhailov, who replaced him, on the contrary, presented the matter in such a way that we do not need the An-70 at all, the Il-76 is enough. It seems that he convinced the curator of the Russian military-industrial complex, Sergei Ivanov, of this. Today, the once reviled project is being re-evaluated again.
Ukraine continues to invest in the production of the An-70, but it is clearly not enough. Today, the Oleg Antonov Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex has produced two An-70 aircraft, and the Kiev State Aviation Plant has begun production of two more aircraft. Production is running behind schedule. Russian experts believe that it is necessary to preserve the jointly developed potential and create conditions for the continuation of this project on a commercial basis. This is primarily in the interests of Russia, since it is the only country that can have a triad of transport aircraft: in the class of 40-45 tons - An-70, 45-60 tons - Il-76, 60--150 tons - - An-124.
Market analysis showed that the current version of the aircraft, developed about 15 years ago, remains in demand and competitive. The car contains a sufficient number of innovative solutions. Here are just a few of them: the D-27 turbofan engines, which have not yet been reproduced by anyone (some experts attribute them to the fifth generation), a supercritical wing that allows a cruising speed of 750 km per hour, a multiple-duplicate fly-by-wire control system that ensures virtually trouble-free control of the aircraft , finally, an integrated electronic complex with triply duplicated systems. The An-70 can take off and land on unpaved platforms 600-700 m long, and carries 30 tons of cargo over a range of 2,500 km. Fuel economy compared to jet engines is 20-25%.
The An-70 can transport the entire range of equipment, cargo and personnel of the CIS and NATO motorized rifle divisions. Such “work” cannot be fully performed by any aircraft in this class. In addition, the An-70 can airdrop a total cargo weighing 36 tons, and a single cargo weighing 21 tons.
It is curious that in 1995-2000 the aircraft was comprehensively examined by leading experts from the German and French ministries of defense, working on the FLA/FTA medium transport aircraft program. They officially confirmed the An-70's full compliance with European Staff Reguirement, including technical, operational and economic criteria. The An-70 received a certificate from the Interstate Aviation Committee in 2005. However, Germany and France, as the main customers of the European military transport aircraft (after a political decision was made), refused the participation of Russia and Ukraine in the project and decided to create an A400M aircraft similar to the An-70 using the forces of the European concern EADS.
Despite multi-billion dollar investments, it was not possible to replicate the An-70 with its prop-fan engine and unique wing and fuselage geometry. Therefore, today in Europe they are building, as Russian and Ukrainian experts say, a trivial 25-ton machine capable of lifting a load of up to 30.5 tons. It is no coincidence that Germany reduced its share of participation from 75 to 60 vehicles and intends to reduce it further.
So the An-70 has an excellent chance to become the leader in its market segment, since it surpasses the A400M in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, while having a huge price advantage: the announced price of the basic version of the A400M is 101.4 million euros, the An-70, depending on the version will cost no more than 40-45 million euros. Among other things, the possibility of creating a civilian version of the aircraft - the An-70-100 - is being explored.
All these arguments are known to the specialists of the Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission. Therefore, it is possible that this year we will witness the resuscitation of a promising aircraft project.