Antonov

Antonov, or Antonov Aeronautical Scientist/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (Template:Lang-uk), formerly the Antonov Design Bureau, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction. Antonov ASTC is a state-owned commercial company. It has its headquarters in Kiev.

History

File:An-225 front day V1.jpg

An-225 is the largest operating aircraft in the world

The company is named after Oleg Antonov, its founder and head designer of An-2, An-24, An-22 and other legendary planes.

The Antonov company lacks facilities for full construction of some aircraft, a result of Soviet industrial strategy that split military production between different regions of the USSR. This distribution minimized potential war loss risks. As a result, Antonov airplanes were often constructed by aerospace companies in Kharkiv (Ukraine), Novosibirsk (Russia), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

Products and activities

123 Fields of commercial activity of Antonov ASTC include:

• Aircraft construction and manufacture
• Airfreight services (Antonov Airlines)
• Aircraft maintenance and upgrading
• Aerospace related engineering support
• Operation of the Gostomel airport (Antonov Airport)
• Trolley bus construction and manufacture (a spin-off, using existing technical expertise).
• Air Start project. Satellite launch from the modifed version of Ruslan.

Aircraft

File:Antonov.an-2.ly-big.arp.jpg

Private Lithuanian Antonov An-2 in the UK

Antonov's airplanes (design office prefix An) range from the rugged An-2 biplane (which itself is comparatively large for a biplane) through the An-28 reconnaissance aircraft to the massive An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya strategic airlifters (the latter being the world's heaviest aircraft with only one currently in service). Whilst less famous, the An-24, An-26, An-30 and An-32 family of twin turboprop, high winged, passenger/cargo/troop transport aircraft are important for domestic/short-haul air services particularly in parts of the world once led by communist governments. The An-72/An-74 series of small jetliners is slowly replacing that fleet, and a larger An-70 freighter is under certification.

The Antonov An-148 is a brand new short-haul airliner of twin-turbofan configuration, which is awaiting Western certification. Over 150 aircraft have been ordered since 2007, all of them by Russian and former East-bloc operators plus Cuba. Template:Citation needed A stretched version is in development, the An-158 (from 60-70 to 90-100 passengers).

Aircraft	Name	NATO	Maiden flight	Remarks
A-40	Krylaty Tank		1942	Winged tank
An-2	Kukuruznik	Colt	31 August 1947	multi-purpose, biplane, single-engine utility transport.
An-3		Colt	13 May 1980	turboprop conversion of An-2
An-4		Colt		float-equipped An-2
An-6	Meteo	Colt		weather reconnaissance aircraft based on An-2
An-8		Camp	1955	medium military transport
An-10	Ukraine	Cat	March, 1957	medium turboprop-powered airliner
An-11				Motorised variant of the A-11 glider
An-12		Cub	16 December 1957	military turboprop-powered transport, developed from An-10
An-13			1962	Light aircraft developed from the A-13M motor glider
An-14	Pchelka	Clod	1958	light twin-engine transport
An-22	Antei	Cock	February, 1965	extremely large turboprop transport
An-24		Coke	20 October 1959	twin-turboprop airliner
An-26		Curl	1969	twin-turboprop transport, derived from An-24
An-28		Cash	September, 1969	twin-turboprop light transport, developed from An-14
An-30		Clank	1967	An-24 adapted for aerial photography and mapping
An-32		Cline	1976	twin-turboprop hot-and-high transport, up-engined An-26 airframe
An-38		Cash	1994	twin-turboprop light transport, stretched An-28
An-70			16 December 1994	large military transport, powered by four propfan engines, to replace An-12
An-71		Madcap	12 July 1985	naval AWACS development of An-72
An-72	Cheburashka	Coaler	31 August 1977	STOL transport, utilizing the Coandă effect
An-74	Cheburashka	Coaler	1983	civil version of An-72; version with engines below wings is called An-74TK-300
An-88				AWACS project, not completed
An-124	Ruslan	Condor	1982	strategic airlifter; largest aircraft ever mass produced
An-140			18 September 1994	short-range turboprop airliner, to replace An-24
An-148			17 December 2004	regional jet for 68-85 passengers
An-158			28 April 2010	stretched version of An-148 for 99 passengers
An-174				enlarged An-74 with engines below wings
An-180			cancelled	medium propfan airliner, around 175 passengers
An-204
An-218			postponed	propfan- or turbofan-powered widebody airliner
An-225	Mriya	Cossack	21 December 1988	An-124 derived strategic airlifter; largest aircraft ever built; only one has been put into service
OKA-38	Storch			Copy of Fieseler Fi 156
SKV				Basis for An-14

Gliders

• Antonov A-1
• Antonov A-2
• Antonov A-7
• Antonov A-11
• Antonov A-13
• Antonov A-15

See also

• Antonov Airlines
• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

External links

• Antonov ASTC
• Antonov Template:Ru icon

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Antonov".