Antonov An-225

The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, Dream, NATO reporting name: 'Cossack') is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft, designed by the Antonov Design Bureau
in the 1980s. It is the world's heaviest aircraft. The design, built in order to transport the Buran orbiter, was an enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. The An-225's name, Mriya (Мрiя) means "Dream" (Inspiration) in Ukrainian.

The Antonov An-225 was designed to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the Buran space shuttle for the Soviet space program. It was developed as a replacement for the Myasishchev VM-T. The An-225's original mission and objectives are almost identical to that of the United States' Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

The An-225 first flew on 21 December 1988. The aircraft was on static display at the Paris Air Show in 1989 and it flew during the public days at the Farnborough air show in 1990. Two aircraft were ordered, but only one An-225 (tail number UR-82060) was finished. It can carry ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250,000 kg (550,000 lb) internally, or 200,000 kg (440,000 lb) on the upper fuselage. Cargo on the upper fuselage can be 70 metres (230 ft) long.

A second An-225 was partially built during the late 1980s for the Soviet space program. The second An-225 included a rear cargo door and a redesigned tail with a single vertical stabilizer. It was planned to be more effective for cargo transportation. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the cancellation of the Buran space program, the lone operational An-225 was placed in storage in 1994. The six Ivchenko Progress engines were removed for use on An-124s, and the second uncompleted An-225 airframe was also stored. The first An-225 was later re-engined and put into service.

By 2000, the need for additional An-225 capacity had become apparent, so the decision was made in September 2006 to complete the second An-225. The second airframe was scheduled for completion around 2008, then delayed. By August 2009, the aircraft had not been completed and work had been abandoned. In May 2011 Antonov CEO is reported to have said that the completion of a second An-225 Mriya transport aircraft with a carrying capacity of 250 tons requires at least $300 million, but if the financing is provided, its completion could be achieved in three years.




General characteristics :

• Crew: 6
• Payload: 250,000 kg (550,000 lb)
• Door dimensions: 440 x 640 cm (14.4 x 21 ft)
• Length: 84 m (275.6 ft)
• Wingspan: 88.4 m (290 ft 2 in)
• Height: 18.1 m (59.3 ft)
• Wing area: 905 m² (9,743.7 ft²))
• Aspect ratio: 8.6
• Cargo Volume: 1,300 m³ (46,000 cu ft)
• Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,315 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 640,000 kg (1,323,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 6 × ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) each
• Takeoff run: 3,500 m (11,500 ft) with maximum payload

Performance

• Maximum speed: 850 km/h (460 knots, 530 mph)
• Cruise speed: 800 km/h (430 knots, 500 mph)
• Range: With maximum fuel: 15,400 km (9,570 mi)
• With maximum payload: 4,000 km (2,500 mi))
• Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,100 ft)
• Wing loading: 662.9 kg/m² (135.5 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.234

There is nothing on Earth or in the air quite like the Antonov An-225. Dwarfing a Boeing 747 and out-lifting a U.S. Air Force C-5A Galaxy, it can haul an expeditionary force into combat, or carry enough food to avert a famine. Yet, oddly, the original purpose of the An-225 was neither hostile nor humanitarian. Conceived in the chilliest years of the Cold War, the plane was designed as an airborne tow truck for the now-defunct Soviet space shuttle program. Despite its lack of armaments, NATO war planners gave the An-225 a military code name, Cossack. History would reveal that the Soviet nickname for the An-225, Mriya, which is Ukrainian for "dream," was more apt.

In keeping with the Soviet penchant for building the world's biggest everything, the An-225 was designed to carry twice as much as a Boeing 747 freighter. The dimensions of the An-225 are staggering—nearly a football field from nose to tail and wingtip to wingtip. With a maximum takeoff weight of about 1.32 million pounds, it is 50 percent heavier than a fully loaded C-5A. To get so massive an aircraft into the sky, Ukrainian engineers equipped the An-225 with six ZMKB Progress Lotarev D-18T turbofan jets, each capable of pumping out 51,590 pounds of thrust.

After only 3-1/2 years in development, Mriya took its maiden voyage on Dec. 21, 1988. Less than a year later the Berlin Wall fell, and with its collapse the Soviet Union dissolved. Ukraine, home to the Antonov Design Bureau that created the An-225, split away as an independent republic. And with these changes the future of the An-225 changed as well.