Today, according to its structure, the Antonov State Enterprise is a large aircraft concern, where, under the general management, the full cycle of aircraft creation is carried out: from design and testing to serial production and after-sales support. One of the concern's promising projects is the An-178 multi-purpose cargo aircraft, designed to replace the outdated An-12 model.
Antonov State Enterprise
It is the pride of Ukraine, one of the "think tanks" of advanced design ideas, a fusion of science and production. Aircraft models that have no analogues in the world have been created here more than once. For example, the super-lifting An-225 Mriya.
GP "Antonov" was originally created and still specializes in the development and production of civil and military transport aircraft. The enterprise also produces passenger models, but it is the An transport aircraft that have earned the reputation of reliable, sometimes irreplaceable workers. The four-engine turboprop An-12, developed back in the 60s, is now actively used in the expanses of the former USSR.
To the airline concernincluded:
- development bureau;
- pilot plant;
- flight test center;
- serial aircraft factory;
- 10 National Treasure Research Complexes with over 6,500 highly trained scientists and engineers.
Promising developments
Civil aviation is in dire need of promising models that meet higher environmental standards, low-cost operation, with an optimal ratio of price and quality, convenience and safety. And if foreign partners have already switched to a new model range, 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-haul passenger An-148 and its improved version An-158.
- Medium-haul military transport and cargo An-70, on which great hopes are pinned.
- Modernized An-124 Ruslan.
- A completely new transport twin-engine An-178, which, according to the designers, should replace the obsolete and physically worn-out An-12 aircraft.
New generation transporter
As conceived by the designers, the 178th model will join the An. A new generation cargo aircraft is already awaiting with interest potentialcustomers. The first flight is scheduled for 2015.
Experience in operating cargo-passenger and transport aircraft shows that multi-purpose models are coming to the fore. This is exactly what the latest development of Ukrainian designers, the An-178 aircraft, is intended to become. Specifications meet the latest standards.
The development of this aircraft in the line of transport "Anov" today is one of the main programs of the enterprise. The team is faced with the task of creating a worthy replacement for the veteran An-12, which for many years was one of the best transport aircraft on the planet. Trends in the development of the global market give hope that the An-178 will be in demand in both 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 levels. The peculiarity of the aircraft is the increased dimensions of the cargo compartment, which allows the transportation of almost all types of packaged cargo existing in the world. In particular, in sea containers and on pallets.
Like all "Antonov" aircraft, the An-178 will inherit such qualities necessary for a transport aircraft as all-aerodrome, autonomy, high reliability, unpretentiousness, fault tolerance.
Cost minimization
To reduce the cost, the new An transport aircraft are unified with the already developed and produced models. no matter how outstandingno aircraft possessed characteristics, the most important indicator for civil aviation is the “issue price”. With similar performance, the customer will prefer a cheaper model at the time of purchase and a more economical one during operation.
The composition of the airframe and on-board equipment of the An-178 is 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 for creating an aircraft to 2-2.5 years. Today, work on the design of the An-178 is going very intensively. In the near future, it is planned to complete the construction of the first flight prototype. 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 propellers instead of four. The transition of developers from a four-engine layout to a two-engine one is not accidental. The design is based on an assessment of the needs of the global market. The current trend in the development of ramp transport aircraft is clearly visible, when, in the design and production of medium-class transport aircraft, aircraft manufacturers replace four-engine turboprop aircraft with twin-engine turbojet aircraft.
Calculations show that with approximately the same hourly fuel consumption, turbojet twin-engine models have a higherperformance thanks to much higher cruising speed.
Use area
Any aircraft is designed for specific tasks. The 178th was conceived as a multi-purpose transporter, which can be easily converted for both civilian and military transport purposes, as well as for special structures (Ministry of Emergency Situations, medical services, etc.).
Initially, the order for the An-178 was submitted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. However, the Antonov State Enterprise is also counting 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 cargo existing in the world (in containers and on pallets), including heavy-duty containers 1C (sea container) with transverse dimensions of 2.44 x 2.44 m. 178 indispensable vehicle for logistics support in commercial operation, in the armed forces, for use in emergency situations.
A worthy replacement for An-12 and S-160
The 178 was conceived as a high-tech replacement for the An-12 medium turboprop four-engine transport aircraft, which have produced about 1,400 copies over the past decades. "Starichkov" is still actively exploited in the CIS countries, Asia, Africa. Developed in the 60s, the An-12 actually has no 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 replace 100% of the capabilities of the twelfthmodels, yet the 178th is the best option to replace the old fleet of domestic companies.
For customers focused on Western technology, the An-178 is offered as an alternative to the outdated 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 medium-class military transport aircraft was dictated by time. The resource of An-12 and S-160 is almost exhausted. Meanwhile, in many countries of the world, a whole range of tasks has been formed, ideally adapted to vehicles of this particular 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. The experience of using the An-12 and S-160 aircraft shows that transportation of wheeled self-propelled and non-self-propelled, as well as armored vehicles, is rarely carried out on them, and, as a rule, heavier aircraft, Il-76 and S-17A, are used to solve such tasks. The main task of medium military-technical cooperation is logistical 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 hard-to-reach regions of the world) of goods tostandard pallets and containers. The breadth of the tasks to be solved is determined by the optimal transverse dimensions and dimensions of such a vehicle.
Competitors
In fact, the An-178 under development has only two potential competitors on the European market. The Ukrainian aircraft is close in class and capabilities to the new jet medium-haul transport aircraft Embraer KC-390, which is being created to replace the C-130. The Russian-Indian MTA project also has similar characteristics.
However, Embraer and MTA have a different philosophy of development and application. First of all, the An-178 aircraft has a smaller size and take-off weight, and is also being created on the basis of an already existing platform - the regional aircraft of the An-148 family, proven in practice. This allows it to be made 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.
- Capacity - 15 t.
- Speed (cruising) - 800 km/h.
- Wingspan - 28.91 m.
- Practical flight 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 a lot of different types of cargo. It is especially important that the model is able to transport even sea containers. The result is a unique and versatile cargoplane.
