Today, in its structure, Antonov is a large aviation concern, where, under general guidance, a full cycle of aircraft construction is carried out: from design and testing to mass production and after-sales support. One of the group's promising projects is the multi-purpose cargo plane An-178, designed to replace the obsolete model An-12.
State Enterprise "Antonov"
It is the pride of Ukraine, one of the “think tanks” of advanced design thought, a fusion of science and production. More than once aircraft models were created here that have no analogues in the world. For example, the super-lifting An-225 "Mriya".
SE "Antonov" was originally created and still specializes in the development and production of civil and military transport aircraft. The company also produces passenger models, but it is An transport aircraft that have earned a reputation as reliable, sometimes irreplaceable workers. The four-engine turboprop An-12, developed back in the 60s, is now actively used in the vast expanses of the former USSR.
The aircraft concern includes:
- experimental design bureau;
- pilot plant;
- flight test center;
- serial aircraft factory;
- 10 research complexes of the national treasure level, which employ more than 6,500 highly qualified scientific and engineering workers.
Promising developments
Civil aviation is in urgent need of promising models that meet increased environmental standards, low cost in operation, with an optimal ratio of price and quality, convenience and safety. And if foreign partners have already switched to a new lineup, Russian and Ukrainian airlines are forced to quickly catch up.
In the 2000s, Antonov State Enterprise actively began to develop new and modernize old models of An aircraft:
- Narrow-body short-range passenger An-148 and its improved version of An-158.
- The medium-range military transport and cargo An-70, which has high hopes.
- The upgraded An-124 Ruslan.
- An entirely new twin-engine transport An-178, which, according to the design of the designers, should replace the outdated morally and physically worn out An-12 aircraft.
New generation transporter
According to the designers, the 178th model in the next year or two will replenish the family of transport aircraft An. A new generation of cargo aircraft is already awaiting with interest potential customers. The first flight is scheduled for 2015.
The operational experience of passenger and transport aircraft shows that multi-purpose models come to the fore. This is what the latest development of Ukrainian designers is called to be - the An-178 aircraft. Characteristics meet the latest standards.
The development of this aircraft in the Anov line of vehicles today is one of the main programs of the enterprise. The team is faced with the task of creating a worthy replacement for the An-12 veteran, who for many years was one of the best transport planes on the planet. World market development trends give hope that the An-178 will be in demand both in the military and civilian sectors.
Benefits
The model is planned to be equipped with two turboprop engines, which will provide high flight speed, flight performance and reduce noise. The peculiarity of the aircraft is the increased dimensions of the cargo compartment, which allows the transportation of almost all types of packaged goods existing in the world. In particular, in sea containers and on pallets.
Like all Antonov’s airplanes, the An-178 will inherit such qualities necessary for a transporter as all-aerodrome, autonomy, high reliability, unpretentiousness, fault tolerance.
Cost minimization
To reduce the cost, the new An transport aircraft are unified with models already developed and are being manufactured. No matter how outstanding the characteristics of the aircraft, the most important indicator for civil aviation is the “issue price”. With similar indicators, the customer will prefer a cheaper model at the time of purchase and more economical during operation.
According to the composition of the airframe and on-board equipment, the An-178s are 50-60% unified with the regional passenger aircraft of the new generation An-148 and An-158, which have already confirmed in practice all the declared characteristics. In addition to reducing technical risks, unification will reduce the time it takes to create an aircraft to 2-2.5 years. Today, the construction of the An-178 is very intense. In the near future it is planned to complete the construction of the first flight instance. In 2014, the fuselage was built, it remains to mount the wings and install equipment.
Two motors instead of four
The creators are proud of the new An-178 concept. The photo of the aircraft clearly demonstrates its main fundamental difference from the An-12 - only two screws instead of four. The transition of developers from a four-engine layout scheme to a twin-engine is not accidental. The design is based on an assessment of the needs of the global market. The current development trend of ramp transport aircraft is clearly traced, when, during the design and production of middle-class transport vehicles, aircraft manufacturers replace four-engine turboprop aircraft with twin-engine turbojets.
Calculations show that with approximately the same hourly fuel consumption, turbojet twin-engine models have higher performance due to a much greater cruising speed.
Area of use
Any aircraft is developed for specific tasks. The 178th was conceived as a multi-purpose transport operator, which can easily be converted for both civilian and military transport purposes, as well as for special structures (EMERCOM, medical services, etc.).
Initially, the order for the An-178 was submitted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. However, Antonov counts on significant orders from civil aviation and cargo transportation companies.
A unique feature of the model is the ability to deliver all types of packaged goods that exist in the world (in containers and on pallets), including 1C heavy containers (sea container) with a transverse dimension of 2.44 x 2.44 m. This makes the An-178 an indispensable vehicle for logistic support in commercial operation, in the armed forces, for use in emergency situations.
A worthy replacement for the An-12 and S-160
The 178th was conceived as a high-tech replacement for medium-sized turboprop four-engine transport aircraft of the An-12 model, which produced over the past decade about 1,400 copies. "Starichkov" is still actively exploited in the CIS countries, Asia, Africa. Developed in the 60s, the An-12 does not actually have a worthy replacement in terms of the combination of technical characteristics and commercial benefits.
Although the An-178 is structurally different from the An-12 and its operational characteristics do not completely replace the capabilities of the twelfth model, the 178th is the best option for replacing the old fleet of domestic companies.
For customers oriented to Western technology, the An-178 is offered as an alternative to the obsolete Franco-German Transal C-160 model - a twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft, of which 214 were produced in the 70-80s.
Military transport modification
The military department of Ukraine is the initiator of the creation and the main customer of the An-178. The decision that the army needed a new military transport aircraft of the middle class dictated the time. Resource An-12 and S-160 is almost exhausted. Meanwhile, in many countries of the world a whole range of tasks has formed that are ideally suited for vehicles of precisely this dimension.
The average carrying capacity of such aircraft is 11-13 tons (more than 70% of transport tasks), and the flight range is 2000-3000 km. Experience with the use of An-12 and S-160 aircraft shows that transportation of wheeled self-propelled and non-self-propelled, as well as armored vehicles is rarely performed on them, and to solve such problems, as a rule, heavier aircraft are used - Il-76 and S-17A. The main task of medium-sized military-technical missions is material and technical support for troops, parachute landing of small units or cargo on platforms, transportation of the wounded and transportation of light equipment, delivery of engines, equipment, etc.
Also, such aircraft are most often used for the delivery (including to remote regions of the world) of goods on standard pallets and in containers. The breadth of the tasks to be determined is determined by the optimal transverse dimensions and dimensions of such a vehicle.
Competitors
In fact, in the European market, the developed An-178 has only two potential competitors. The Ukrainian aircraft is close in class and capabilities to the new Embraer KC-390 medium-range jet transport aircraft, which is being created to replace the S-130. Also, the Russian-Indian project MTA has similar characteristics.
However, Embraer and MTA have a different development and application philosophy. First of all, the An-178 aircraft has a smaller size and take-off weight, and is also created on the basis of an existing platform - regional-proven An-148 family aircraft. This makes it much cheaper than competitors and with significantly lower fuel consumption, which affects the cost of the aircraft’s life cycle.
An-178: characteristics
- Length - 31.6 m.
- Carrying capacity - 15 t.
- Speed (cruising) - 800 km / h.
- Wingspan - 28.91 m.
- Practical range at maximum load - 3200 km.
- The estimated cost of one aircraft is $ 20-25 million.
Conclusion
An-178 is a transport aircraft replacing the AN-12. It can carry many cargoes of various kinds. It is especially important that the model is capable of transporting even sea containers. The result is a unique and versatile cargo plane.