Antonov An-70
An-70 | |
---|---|
The An-70 in flight | |
Role | Military transport aircraft |
National origin | Soviet Union Russia / Ukraine |
Design group | Antonov Design Bureau
|
Built by | Antonov Serial Production Plant Kazan Aircraft Production Association |
First flight | 16 December 1994 |
Status | Completed state tests, open for production |
Produced | 1991–1996 2012–2015 |
Number built | 2 prototypes |
The Antonov An-70 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-70) is a four-engine medium-range
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the programme became a joint development between Russia and Ukraine. The former compounded the issue of a reduced market with its intermittent commitment to the project. Repeated attempts to start production have had limited success. Western European countries, including Germany, at one stage assessed the aircraft for procurement, but many later decided against it.
Development
Origins and early testing history
The origins of the An-70 can be traced back to the mid-1970s, when
There were plans to establish mass ("serial") production of the model at the
Crewed by a seven-man team, the first aircraft performed a short take off from Svyatoshino Airfield, Kyiv. This was the first flight of an aircraft that was powered only by propfans.[4] Due to worsening weather conditions over Antonov's headquarters and the flight test area in Kyiv, the flight was cut short, and the flight ceiling was capped at 2,000 m (6,500 ft). The crew took the aircraft to a height of 450 m (1,475 ft), while performing basic checkouts of the prototype's systems. After having been airborne for less than half an hour, the aircraft landed at Antonov's flight test facility at Hostomel.[7][9] During the flight, engineers identified problems with the engine gearboxes, and so the aircraft was grounded for eight weeks while the issues were fixed.[10]
Originally, the aircraft was to conduct flight tests at Hostomel for three months before transferring to the
Antonov subsequently converted the static-test prototype into a flying prototype equipped with a modified flight-control system.
Western evaluation
In the early 1990s, the An-70 was unsuccessfully considered as a platform to meet the European Staff Requirement (ESR) for the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) programme; the programme envisaged the development of a transport aircraft that is midway in size and capability between the
Antonov proposed a "westernised" version of the An-70, the An-7X. The German government tasked
The German government, for political reasons, preferred the An-70. During a separate
2001 incident and later disputes
In December 1999, the Russian government outlined that it planned to purchase 164 aircraft by 2018. The Ukrainian government in October 2000 estimated that the country had a requirement for 65 aircraft.[29] By then, the Russian government had awarded the Polyot plant, which was based in Omsk, the right to produce the aircraft, ahead of Aviakor and Aviastar of Samara and Ulyanovsk, respectively. The Kyiv Aircraft Production Plant was expected to produce the first aircraft in 2003, and Polyot, in 2004.[30] As the An-70 flight test programme had reached its final stages by the end of 2000, it was expected that the Russian and Ukraine Defence Ministries would approve of mass production at the start of 2001. On 27 January 2001, however, the second An-70 prototype made a crash landing on its belly after losing power in two engines on take-off during cold weather testing in Omsk, and was severely damaged. Four of the 33 people on board were injured.[19] Antonov recovered the crashed aircraft and repaired it, but the project still lacked funding.[31][32]
In January 2002, preparations started on mass production as the Russian government affirmed that the aircraft was in the country's nine-year military budget; by now, Ukraine had already placed an order for five aircraft.
Nevertheless, Antonov looked elsewhere for an industrial partner. In September that year, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Aviation Industry Corporation II that covered the possible joint development of transport aircraft. Russian ambivalence towards the An-70 was made evident when the Russian Defence Ministry did not allocate any funds in the near future towards the procurement of the aircraft for its air force. Instead, resources were dedicated towards the upgraded Il-76MF.[33] After the Orange Revolution in late 2004, and with Ukraine openly aiming for NATO membership, political will for the project evaporated.[34][35] In April 2006, General Mikhaylov announced that Russia was withdrawing from the project, although at the time there was no official confirmation from the Russian government itself. Mikhaylov had reportedly been a staunch opponent of the An-70, claiming that the D-27 engine was "unreliable", and had advocated for the adoption of the Il-76MF, which was estimated to cost half that of the An-70.[citation needed] Up until then, Russia had provided around 60 percent of the estimated $5 billion invested in the project.[34]
Subsequent development
Intermittent commitment from the Russian side plagued the project, as Russia owed the programme an outstanding debt for the three years through 2009.[36] According to various reports, Russia's conflict with Georgia in August 2008 highlighted the need for an airlifter in the class of the An-70, one that had a spacious cargo bay and the ability to operate from unpaved airstrips.[37]: 15 [38]: 20–1 Consequently, in August 2009, both countries agreed to resume development of the An-70.[39][40]: 86 Ukraine continued to pursue flight testing of the sole prototype while making upgrades to the aircraft's avionics, sensors and propulsion system. It was reported that the Ukrainian Air Force would take delivery of its first two An-70s in 2011 and 2012; Volga-Dnepr Airlines had also signed an MoU with Antonov for five commercial-standard An-70Ts.[41] A requirement for 60 An-70s was included in Russia's 2011–2020 national armament programme when it was issued in December 2010.[40]: 86–7
In late July 2010, Antonov suspended the flight test programme to update the aircraft.
The test programme would last from September 2012 until April 2014, when the aircraft passed state acceptance trials.[44] During that time, the An-70 conducted approximately 120 flights totalling 220 hours, with much of the certification effort carried out by Ukrainian specialists and officials. This is because, despite the aircraft's inclusion in Russia's state rearmament programme, Russia had withdrawn from the project in November 2012 reportedly due to slow progress, a fact that was disclosed only in April 2013.[45] According to a report, the withdrawal of Russia from the project was, apart from a response to the Ukrainian government's EU choices, the result of political manoeuvring by Russian government officials with links to Ilyushin to pressure the government to purchase the Il-476, a re-winged variant of the Il-76.[46] In total, the An-70 had conducted some 735 flights and had accumulated 930 hours during state tests.[47]
As a result of the Russian invasion of Crimea, the Ukrainian government, in April 2014, announced that it would halt all military-technical cooperation with Russia.[48] In August 2014, a Ukrainian court ordered the Russian Defence Ministry to make outstanding payments to Antonov.[5] In March 2015, Russia Defence Ministry declared that it is ruling out the An-70 for state procurement. It also declared that, as in their opinion, Ukraine has withdrawn from the military and defence agreements signed before the crisis between them by completing the aircraft without Russian involvement, it would request return of 2.95 billion rubles that Russian government had spent on An-70 project.[49]
Design
The An-70 is a monoplane with a high-mounted wing design that features four distinctive propfan engines. Designed by the Progress Design Bureau, each of the D-27 engines is rated at 13,800 shp (which can be uprated to 16,000 shp), which is used to drive the SV-27 contra-rotating scimitar propellers designed by Aerosila; eight on the front propeller and six on the aft propeller.[50]: 20 The propfan engines deliver slipstream to the supercritical wings that feature double-slotted trailing edges to provide high lift coefficients at low speeds.[51]: 58 The modernisation of the aircraft during 2010–12 saw upgrades to the engines, including the incorporation of FADEC, and the further separation of the two propellers.[41][37]: 16 The aircraft's cruise speed is 750 km/h (405 kt) at an operational altitude of 8,600 to 9,600 m (28,200 to 31,500 ft); Antonov claimed in 1997 that the aircraft had a design maximum speed of 850 km/h (460 kt, or Mach 0.8), which would have compared favourably with Mach 0.77 of the larger turbofan-powered C-17.[50]: 21 [51]: 58 According to DASA's evaluation, the propfan engines were 10 percent more efficient than conventional turboprops.[23]: 130
Similar to many aircraft designs of the Soviet Union, the An-70 was designed as an airlifter that could operate from unprepared fields. In
Similar to the
Variants
- An-70T
- A version of the An-70 sans suffix adopted for the civilian market.[41]
- An-70T-100
- A proposed lighter version of the An-70T with two D-27 propfans and simplified landing gear for civilian use. The variant was intended to haul 30 t (66,000 lb) of cargo over a distance of 1,000 km (620 mi), or 20 t (44,000 lb) for 4,300 km (2,700 mi).[51]: 60
- An-7X
- A proposed version of the An-70 intended for the Western European market.[23]: 129
- An-77
- Proposed in July 2017 for joint development between the U.S. and Ukraine, this modernized version of the An-70 would fill the gap between the 21-metric-ton payload (23-short-ton) Il-76 military transporters.[citation needed] At the Eurasia Airshow in April 2018, Antonov announced that it would work with Turkey's Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in redeveloping the An-77 aircraft to meet current-day requirements.[54]
- An-112KC
- A proposed aerial refueling version of the An-70, except with two jet engines from the team of U.S. Aerospace and Antonov for the U.S. Air Force's KC-X program.[55][56] The USAF rejected the proposal,[57] and the appeal was later dismissed.[58][59]
- An-170
- A heavy-lift version with a stretched fuselage and greater wing span.[60] The aircraft would be powered by the Progress D-227, a more powerful derivative of the Progress D-27 producing 16,000–17,000 hp (12,000–13,000 kW) of output.[61]
- An-188
- A program to develop this variant was launched at the 2015 Ukroboronprom announced at the Eurasia-2018 Airshow held in Turkey's Antalya, that Ukraine and Turkey had agreed to jointly implement the production of the aircraft.[64]
Operators
- Ukrainian Air Force – In 2010, two deliveries were expected in 2011 and 2012.[41] Finally, in January 2015, Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak signed an order for the type, allowing the An-70 to officially enter service with the Ukrainian Air Force, currently the sole operator of the type.[65]
Specifications (An-70)
Data from Butowski,[40]: 88–9 Jane's all the World's Aircraft 2000–2001[66]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3–4 flight crew (two pilots and flight engineer (optional navigator)) + loadmasters and cargo attendants
- Capacity: 300 troops or 206 stretcher cases / 47,000 kg (103,617 lb) max payload
- Length: 40.73 m (133 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 44.06 m (144 ft 7 in)
- Height: 16.38 m (53 ft 9 in)
- TsAGI P-202[67]
- Empty weight: 66,230 kg (146,012 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 145,000 kg (319,670 lb)
- Powerplant: 4 × Progress D-27 propfan, 10,350 kW (13,880 hp) each
- Propellers: 14-bladed Aerosyla Stupino SV-27, 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) diameter contra-rotating propeller (8-bladed forward; 6-bladed rear)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 780 km/h (480 mph, 420 kn)
- Cruise speed: 750 km/h (470 mph, 400 kn) at 9,100–11,000 m (29,900–36,100 ft)
- 800 km/h (500 mph; 430 kn) max
- Stall speed: 113 km/h (70 mph, 61 kn)
- Range: 1,350 km (840 mi, 730 nmi) with 47,000 kg (103,617 lb) payload from 1,800 m (5,900 ft) runway
- 3,800 km (2,400 mi; 2,100 nmi) with 38,000 kg (83,776 lb) payload from 1,800 m (5,900 ft) runway
- 5,000 km (3,100 mi; 2,700 nmi) with 30,000 kg (66,139 lb) payload from 1,800 m (5,900 ft) runway
- 7,400 km (4,600 mi; 4,000 nmi) with 20,000 kg (44,092 lb) payload from 1,800 m (5,900 ft) runway
- 8,000 km (5,000 mi; 4,300 nmi) with maximum fuel from 1,800 m (5,906 ft) runway
- (STOL operations with reduced range)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 24.9 m/s (4,900 ft/min)
- Power/mass: 0.316 kW/kg (0.192 hp/lb) max
- Take-off field length: 1,800 m (5,900 ft)
- Landing field length: 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
- Take-off run STOL 30,000 kg (66,139 lb) payload: 600 m (2,000 ft)
- Take-off run STOL 35,000 kg (77,162 lb) payload: 915 m (3,000 ft)
See also
- Military transport aircraft – Aircraft designed to carry military cargo and personnel
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Ilyushin Il-76 – Russian heavy military transport aircraft (170t MTOW)
- Lockheed C-141 Starlifter – Retired American heavy military transport aircraft from Lockheed (147t MTOW)
- Airbus A400M Atlas – Multi-national four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft (141t MTOW)
- Kawasaki C-2 – Japanese military transport aircraft (141t MTOW)
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