Av-225 Air Designer “Mriya” and An-124 Ruslan Anatoly Vesnyanenko calls to abandon the construction of the second “Mriya” in favor of what Ukraine needs more.
The expert substantiated his opinion in an open letter to the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, the Minister of Defense Alexei Reznikov and the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, reports Hwil.
Given the fact that the Antonov enterprise, unfortunately, has not delivered a single aircraft for 30 years, against the backdrop of military operations and aggression of Russia, different types of military transport aircraft are urgently required to transport weapons, warriors, equipment, medical equipment and other cargoes , emphasized Vynnyanenko.
Vovnyanenko recalled that in 2020, a contract was signed between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Antonov State Enterprise for the supply of 3 AN-178 aircraft. Under this contract, the company’s management has already taken loans for 4 billion hryvnias.
The first flight of the aircraft without Russian components was initially announced for November 2021 – January 2022. It was this promise that the head of Ukroboronprom Yuri Gusev made. Then the terms began to be shifted to the right: for the first quarter, and then for the first half of 2022. Officially, the glider is 80%ready, but not a word about Avionic, a significant part of which should import, and without which the plane would not rise to the sky. As it became known on the first experimental aircraft on which they will conduct certification, a significant part of the Russian components remained.
Currently, the head of the Ukroboronprom recreation center Yuri Gusev announces the restoration of the An-225 Mriya aircraft, and does not say anything about the An-178 aircraft for the Armed Forces.
“It is not clear why to move into the past, and not into the future? The An-225 aircraft was built in the USSR and made the first flight on December 21, 1988. At first it was developed to transport OK Buran and Energy missiles, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union He began to be used 1-2 times a year for transporting goods. During the peak of the Pandemia of Coronavirus, the aircraft began to be used more for the transportation of medical equipment, ”he said.
Moreover, the aircraft designer recalled, in Ukroboronprom they knew about the attack of Russian fascists on Ukraine on February 24, but they did nothing to be evacuated from the Airfield of Gostole to all planes. As a result, not only the An-225 Mriya plane was destroyed, but a few more, and some of the aircraft received significant damage: An-26, An-28, An-74 and An-22 Antei, An-132D.
“And all their stories that there was no one engine on the An-225 is an excuse. The An-124 aircraft repeatedly flew on 3 engines, and the An-225 on the 5th. But it is clear that under the current government for corruption for GP “Antonov” and the destruction of aircraft will not be punished. ”, He added.