Antonov State Enterprise, which is part of Ukroboronprom state concern, at the end of last year demonstrated the first military transport aircraft An-178-100R No. 001 designed for flight certification tests. “Ukraine demonstrates its defense capability thanks to synergy, united efforts… The synergy of [the relevant parliamentary committee who fully support the Armed Forces, representatives of the command of the Armed Forces, the leadership of Ukroboronprom, the leadership of the plant and the Ministry of Defense] guarantees our exact victory with you, and it will not only be three such planes, but more,” Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said at the plane’s roll-out ceremony in Kyiv on December 28.
Director of General Antonov State Enterprise Serhiy Bychkov said that the aircraft was transferred to a flight test base for ground and flight tests.
According to him, the state, through Ukreximbank, allocated an almost interest-free loan to the Antonov to manufacture the aircraft for the Ministry of Defense, and the company has already received about UAH 1 billion from the Ministry of Defense.
Bychkov said that this is the first aircraft of this generation in design, ergonomics and management, which was created in the post-Soviet space. “Such an aircraft in this class has not yet been on our territory, so it will require very careful, reliable testing in all parameters to make the first flight. I will not sign the acceptance act if I am not convinced that the first flight will be completely safe and reliable. Such a control system has not yet existed and does not exist. You are present at the opening of a new era. In the Soviet Union, there was no such aircraft, and now Russia certainly doesn’t have,” Bychkov said.
At the same time, the director general of the Antonov State Enterprise said that the auxiliary power unit for the aircraft was manufactured in Italy.
“There is not a single product, the equipment of which is Russian-made, I declare with all my authority… I have nothing to hide, nothing to deceive, especially from the Ministry of Defense,” he said.
An-178-100R is a next generation aircraft that can be used for the transportation of personnel, the delivery of weapons and light military equipment by landing and parachute methods, as well as for the transportation of goods. The aircraft is designed to transport up to 100 people in total, people in need of medical evacuation (40 people on standard sanitary stretchers, 38 people on the side seats, accompanied by 4 paratroopers), and paratroopers up to 86 people.
More than 30 Ukrainian enterprises take part in the An-178-100R program, which produced 177 types of components for this aircraft. In particular, for the first time in Ukraine Antonov, scientific and technical complex Ekran, PJSC FED, SOE Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau have developed and implemented a modern electronic control system for aircraft and a control system for wing mechanization. SOE Pivdenny (Yuzhny) Machine-Building Plant has launched the production of main landing gear. Foreign suppliers from Europe, the United States and Canada are also involved in the equipment of the aircraft.
Antonov received a state procurement order for the construction of three aircraft with the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of December 2020.
The airframe of the first of the three ordered aircraft was fully completed. The fuselage, wing, and tail unit of the second An-178-100R were assembled ahead of schedule.
The transfer of An-148-100 aircraft, previously operated by other airlines, to Ukraine has a positive effect for Antonov state-owned enterprise, Viktor Kazurov, the program director for An-148 and its modifications, said.
“For Antonov state enterprise, this is a new stage in the development of the regional passenger aircraft program, which will have a positive effect on their production,” he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the recent statement by Sergei Turkin, the director of the Voronezh leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co, about the intention, as part of a civil aircraft remarketing strategy, to sell its remaining five An-148s, possibly to Ukrainian operators.
According to Kazurov, the use of An-148-100 by Ukrainian airlines will allow Ukrainian citizens to travel even from small regional airports with the level of comfort and speed of mainline liners, and the planes themselves will fly, not stand idle.
The director of the An-148 aircraft program positively assessed the appearance in Ukraine at the end of October of this year of a new airline Air Ocean Airlines, whose fleet includes An-148s.
“This airline appeared at the right time and in the right place. It is developing an actively growing niche of regional transportation,” he said.
Kazurov recalled that Air Ocean Airlines passed state certification on October 23, and on October 30 it made its first flight on the route Kyiv (Zhuliany)-Mykolaiv-Kyiv. Then in November the company opened flights from Kyiv to Zaporizhia, Lviv, Chernivtsi, and in December it connected Lviv and Kharkiv.
“We welcome the arrival of this company to the Ukrainian market, which contributes to the development of regions, the creation of new jobs, the promotion of An-148 aircraft. Before the New Year, Air Ocean Airlines plans to establish air traffic between Lviv and Zaporizhia, as well as Kyiv and Kharkiv. Antonov provides comprehensive support to the operator and resolves emerging issues as soon as possible,” the expert emphasized.
Kazurov clarified that Air Ocean Airlines plans to receive three or four more aircraft in the first half of 2022, and in the future to bring the fleet to ten aircraft of the An-148/158 type.
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The Ministry of Infrastructure is studying the possibility of purchasing the first five An-158 aircraft from the state-owned enterprise Antonov (Kyiv), which is part of Ukroboronprom, for the needs of the Ukrainian National Airlines (UNA), the Ministry of Infrastructure has reported on Facebook.
The signing of the relevant contracts is expected in the first or second quarter of next year.
“For Ukrainian National Airlines, the sole owner of which is the state, different classes of aircraft are needed. For regional and medium-haul flights, we are considering the An-158, which is ideal for flights around the country,” Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov is quoted as saying.
Antonov enterprise expects that the contracts will be signed directly between the State Enterprise and JSC Ukrainian National Airlines.
“The An-158 is an excellent plane with 99 seats. We are ready to build five such planes within the next three years by order of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the National Air Carrier. The first plane will be launched within the first year,” Yuriy Husev, Director General of Ukroboronprom, said.
Ukrainian National Airlines was established in November 2021 on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Its main task is to develop domestic air transportation, expand the geography of flights for Ukrainians, protect the strategic interests of the state and turn Ukraine into a major European air hub.
State-owned enterprise Antonov (Kyiv) and JSC Tashkent Mechanical Plant (TMZ), following the results of the recent negotiations and visits by the Ukrainian side of the production facilities of TMZ, agreed on a “road map” and on creation of a working group for studying the technological potential of TMZ and the possibility of organizing the production of aircraft parts and assemblies by order of Antonov.
According to the TMZ website, the start of the dialogue was preceded by a meeting in Kyiv of the founder of the investment company Welfare Investment Alliance (Uzbekistan), Alisher Abdualiev, with Director General of Antonov state-owned enterprise Serhiy Bychkov.
During negotiations between Head of the board – TMZ Director General Zafar Isokov and Antonov General Designer Oleksandr Dveyrin with the participation of the Welfare Investment Alliance leaders, the prospects for exporting previously manufactured products and the possibility of expanding the production of parts and assemblies for modern aircraft of SOE Antonov and its subcontractors were discussed.
TMZ said that it continues to produce individual parts and assemblies for the aviation industry, carries out systematic work to restore the production of components for aircraft on the basis of direct contracts with aircraft manufacturers.
Ukraine has an experience of possible cooperation with the U.S. company Boeing, in particular, on the localization of their aircraft, Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Urusky said in an interview on Army FM radio.
“I do not exclude that during my visit to the United States we will contact Boeing with these proposals, in particular regarding the possible localization of the production of this company’s aircraft at our Antonov,” he said.
Urusky said that due to the coronavirus crisis, Boeing, like many companies, has significantly decreased the number of orders.
“Now everyone is looking for new markets and opportunities. We are setting ambitious goals for ourselves to develop our military aviation. I hope that cooperation with Boeing will be useful for us in this direction,” the deputy prime minister said.
He also said that in addition to the contract signed by the Defense Ministry with Antonov at the end of 2020 on the production of three An-178s, an order for four An-74s is being prepared in 2021. Urusky said that the delivery date for the first An-178 is 2023.
The state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) has provided the Antonov State Enterprise with almost UAH 3 billion of loan for the construction of three An-178 aircraft for the Ukrainian army, Chairman of the Management Board Yevhen Metzger said.
“The state-owned Ukreximbank signed a loan agreement with […] the Antonov State Enterprise for almost UAH 3 billion, which will go to the construction of three new An-178 aircraft for the Ukrainian army,” he wrote on Facebook.
It is indicated that a state contract for ordering aircraft was concluded with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for four years in the presence and with the assistance of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
As reported, in late December, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Antonov State Enterprise signed a memorandum of cooperation in the construction of aircraft for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
