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| Antonov An-77 |
Militarymedia.net - The An-77 is a proposed new Ukrainian military transport aircraft, which is currently under development. This project is also referred to as the An-188. This is a further development of the An-70, which is a joint project with Russia. In 2006 due to economic problems and difficult political relations between Russia and Ukraine, Russia abandoned the An-70 project and switched to the Il-76MF and Il-476 transports. For several years the future of the An-70 project was uncertain due to a lack of funds and orders. In 2009 Russia signed a deal with Ukraine to renew development of the An-70 and reportedly resumed funding. In the same year it was announced that 2 An-70 aircraft would be built for the Ukrainian air force. This type was officially adopted in 2015. However due to Russian military actions in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, the joint project with Russia was discontinued and the An-70 never reached serial production. Antonov's design bureau completed its own aircraft using Western components, not Russian. The An-77 prototype was first revealed to the public in 2018. Although it is basically on the previous Ukrainian An-70 with the designation "An-70" on the painted fuselage. Due to funding problems it is currently impossible to start production of this aircraft for the Ukrainian air force. The An-77 is being proposed for export. It is even being proposed that the US fit the gap between their C-130J Super Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster III. However, judging by Antonov's previous designs, it is unlikely that this Ukrainian aircraft will achieve significant sales.
The new Ukrainian plane is slightly larger, than the European Airbus A400M, and can carry more weight. Yet it is much smaller than the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The An-77 pressure mount will have a built-in cargo handling system. It will be able to carry around 300 troops or rack for about 200 liters as an alternative to cargo, vehicles or even helicopters. Its maximum payload capacity is around 35-47 t. The An-77 will be able to fly individual items up to a limit of 20,000 kg. Range with a maximum cargo of about 3,000 km. This transport aircraft will be able to carry 20 tons of cargo over a distance of about 6,000 km. The maximum service range will be around 8,000 km.
The An-77 is planned to be a turbojet version of the An-70, which uses a propfan engine with counter-rotating propellers. It is planned that the An-77 will be powered by a CFM International CFM56-5A1 turbojet engine. This engine is used on the Airbus A320 commercial passenger jet. So these machines are durable, reliable, widely available and easy to service.
The previous An-70 used Russian avionics, a chassis and a number of other components. The new An-77 is planned to have no Russian components and will instead be equipped with Western avionics.
The An-77 is a specialized military machine, which can take off and land using short and unprepared runways, as well as from poorly equipped airfields that do not have dedicated ground facilities. It is capable of landing on soft ground and even snow. Some sources report that the take-of-run of this aircraft will be as short as 350 meters.
