According to Anatoly Vovnyanka, now it is better to focus on the construction of modern aircraft for the Armed Forces, for example, An-178.
General Director of State Enterprise “Antonov” Yevhen Gavrilov reported on November 7 that Ukraine has started rebuilding the An-225 “Mriya” destroyed by the Russians in Gostomel. Gavrilov estimated the cost of rebuilding the largest plane in the world at 500 million euros.
Immediately after the destruction of the plane, Ukroboronprom cited figures of 3 billion dollars, in May the price of reconstruction “reduced” to 800 million – this amount was named by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
“Currently the completion of the second An-225 aircraft (the wings and fuselage were built in 1988-1989) with the use of some of the units, tail fins, equipment, engines and chassis left over from the first aircraft will cost about 150-190 million dollars,” explains the former designer , head of the designer service for the design, construction and certification of the An-225 aircraft Anatoly Vovnyanko.
As an example, the designer cites the prices for designing “from scratch” modern aircraft of the same class.
- A-380 – the newest passenger aircraft costs 489 million dollars, the price includes passenger equipment and development funds;< /li>
- The Roc aircraft – a single copy for space rocket launches costs 400 million dollars, the amount includes expenses for design, production preparation and construction.
At the same time, the average salary of workers, designers and engineers at Airbus and Boeing is five to seven thousand dollars a month, while at Antonov State Enterprise it is $500-700.
“In one of the poorest countries in the world, only the heads of the Ukroboronprom DC want to put more than 600 million dollars in their pockets for the reconstruction of one Mriya aircraft (out of two previously built), the designer notes.
Is the project to rebuild “Mriya” economically profitable? Anatoly Vovnyanko believes that not. According to his estimates, it will take about 100 years for the funds invested in reconstruction to pay off. In addition, the State Enterprise “Antonov” has been in a critical condition for a long time and it is not known whether it will be able to finish this project.
“It is not clear why to move to the past and not to the future? The An-225 aircraft was built in the USSR and made its first flight on December 21, 1988. Initially, it was developed for the transportation of OK “Buran” and the “Energia” rocket, and after the collapse of the USSR, it began to be used once or twice a year for the transportation of cargo. During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, the plane began to be used more for the transportation of medical equipment,” argues the designer.
Ukroboronprom proposes to rebuild the plane in memory of the pilots who died protecting the Ukrainian skies. However, a real step into the future, perpetuating the memory of heroes and the help of the Armed Forces, according to the designer, will be the construction of new An-178, each of which can bear the name of the deceased.
In 2020, a contract for the supply of three An-178 aircraft was signed between the ZSU and Antonov State Enterprise. As of now, the glider is officially 80% ready. Russian avionics components were to be replaced in it, without which the plane will not fly into the sky. However, a significant part of the Russian components remained on the first experimental aircraft on which certification will be carried out.
“Currently, the Il-76 is the main transport aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is a wonderful aircraft that was created 51 years ago and will complete its life cycle in Ukraine in 10-15 years. It is necessary to start developing a new Ukrainian aircraft to replace it, for example, An-188. Moreover, development must be done by connecting foreign partners in order to have funds for development and sales markets,” the designer emphasizes.
In addition, in his opinion, it is necessary to decide together with the military what other aircraft they need to solve logistical problems and training problems of the modern army: perhaps an aircraft to replace the An-26 or an aircraft of the An-28 or An-38 type. It makes sense to focus on building the future instead of rebuilding the past.
Read also: AN-225 “Mriya” is a fetish of the Soviet industry, the market does not need such aircraft – test engineer
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ZN.UA already wrote about the problems it faces aircraft industry. And also about how Ukraine disrupted the implementation of a large project for the supply and deployment of An-178 aircraft production in Azerbaijan. Read more in the texts of Dmytro Mendeleev “Doomsday aircraft construction…” and Dmytro Kiva “Why didn't the An-178 reach Azerbaijan?“.
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