Antonov (d/b/aAntonov Company,[a] formerly theAeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov orAntonov ASTC,[b] and earlier theAntonov Design Bureau, for its chief designer,Oleg Antonov) is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company. Antonov's particular expertise is in the fields of very large aeroplanes and aeroplanes using unpreparedrunways. Antonov (model prefix "An-") has built a total of approximately 22,000 aircraft, and thousands of its planes are operating in theformer Soviet Union and indeveloping countries.[2]
Antonov Company is a state-owned commercial company originally established inNovosibirsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In 1952, the company relocated to Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union.[3] On 12 May 2015, it was transferred from theMinistry of Economic Development and Trade to theUkroboronprom (Ukrainian Defense Industry).[4]
In June 2016, Ukraine's major state-owned arms manufacturerUkroboronprom announced the creation of the Ukrainian Aircraft Corporation within its structure, to combine all aircraft manufacturing enterprises in Ukraine.
The company was established in 1946 at theNovosibirsk Aircraft Production Association as the top-secret SovietResearch and Design Bureau No. 153 (OKB-153). It was headed byOleg Antonov and specialised inturbopropmilitary transport aircraft. The task was to create anagricultural aircraft CX-1 (An-2), the first flight of which occurred on 31 August 1947. TheAn-2 biplane was a major achievement of this period, with hundreds of these aircraft still operating as of 2013.[5] In addition to this biplane and its modifications, a small series of gliders A-9 and A-10 were created and built in the pilot production inNovosibirsk. In 1952, the Bureau was relocated to Kyiv, a city with a richaviation history and an aircraft-manufacturing infrastructure restored after the destruction caused byWorld War II.
An-12,Cold War-era tactical transport, in flight47-year-oldAn-12 still in operational condition in 2011
The 1957 introduction of theAn-10/An-12 family of mid-range turboprop aeroplanes began the successful production of thousands of these aircraft. Their use for both heavy combat and civilian purposes around the globe continues to the present; theAn-10/An-12 were used most notably in theVietnam War, theSoviet–Afghan War and theChernobyl disaster relief megaoperation.
In 1959, the bureau began construction of the separate Flight Testing and Improvement Base in suburbanHostomel (now theAntonov Airport).
In 1965, theAntonov An-22 heavy military transport entered serial production to supplement the An-12 in major military and humanitarianairlifts by the Soviet Union. The model became the first Sovietwide-body aircraft, and it remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft. Antonov designed and presented anuclear-powered version of the An-22. It was never flight tested.
In 1966, after the major expansion in theSviatoshyn neighbourhood of the city, the company was renamed to another disguise name: "Kiev Mechanical Plant". Two independent aircraft production and repair facilities, under engineering supervision of the Antonov Bureau, also appeared in Kiev during this period.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the company established itself as the Soviet Union's main designer of military transport aircraft with dozens of new modifications in development and production. After Oleg Antonov's death in 1984, the company was officially renamed as theResearch and Design Bureau named after O.K. Antonov (Russian:Опытно-конструкторское бюро имени О.К. Антонова) while continuing the use of "Kiev Mechanical Plant" alias for some purposes.
Late Soviet-era: superlarge projects and first commercialisation
An-225 which was previously the largest operative aircraft in the world was recently destroyed in 2022.
In the late 1980s, the Antonov Bureau achieved global prominence after the introduction of its extra large aeroplanes. TheAn-124 "Ruslan" (1982) became the Soviet Union's mass-producedstrategic airlifter under the leadership of Chief DesignerViktor Tolmachev.[citation needed] The Bureau enlarged the "Ruslan" design even more for theSoviet spaceplane programme logistics, creating theAn-225 "Mriya" in 1985. "Mriya" was the world's largest and heaviest aeroplane.[6]
The end of theCold War andperestroika allowed the Antonov company's first step to commercialisation and foreign expansion. In 1989, theAntonov Airlines subsidiary was created for its own aircraft maintenance andcargo projects.
The logo of the state enterprise Antonov in Ukrainian
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Antonov Design Bureau remained a state-owned company after Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991 and is since regarded as a strategic national asset.
Rollout of the first serially-producedAn-148 at Antonov's hangar inKyiv, 2009. AnAn-124 under maintenance seen in the far corner of the hangar.
Since independence, Antonov has certified and marketed both Soviet-era and newly developed models for sale in new markets outside of the former soviet sphere of influence. New models introduced to serial production and delivered to customers include theAntonov An-140,Antonov An-148 andAntonov An-158regional airliners.
Among several modernisation projects, Antonov received orders for upgrading "hundreds" of itsAn-2 utility planes still in operation inAzerbaijan,Cuba and Russia to the An-2-100 upgrade version.[5]
In 2014, following theannexation of the Crimea by Russia, Ukraine cancelled contracts with Russia, leading to a significant income reduction in Ukraine's defense and aviation industries.[7] However Ukraine has been slowly recovering the deficit from breaking ties with Russia by entering new markets such as thePersian Gulf region[8][9] and expanding its presence in old ones such as India.[10][11][12][13][14]
In July 2018, Antonov was able to secure a deal with Boeing to procure airplane parts which were no longer available due to breakdown of relations with Russia.[15]
During theSoviet period, not all Antonov-designedaircraft were manufactured by the company itself. This was a result of Soviet industrial strategy that split military production between different regions of theSoviet Union to minimise potential war loss risks. As a result, Antonov aeroplanes were often assembled by the specialistcontract manufacturers.
In 2009, the once-independent "Aviant" aeroplane-assembling plant inKyiv became part of Antonov, facilitating a full serial manufacturing cycle of the company. However, the old tradition of co-manufacturing with contractors is continued, both with Soviet-time partners and with new licensees likeIran'sIran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.[16]
In 2014, Antonov produced and delivered only twoAn-158 airplanes.[17] This trend continued into 2015, producing oneAn-148 and oneAn-158.[18] Since 2016, no aircraft have been produced or delivered to clients.[19]
In June 2016, Ukraine's major state-owned arms manufacturerUkroboronprom announced the creation of theUkrainian Aircraft Corporation within its structure, thereby combining all aircraft manufacturing enterprises, including the assets of Antonov into a single cluster, according to Ukroboronprom's press service.[20]
On 19 July 2017, the Ukrainian government approved the liquidation of Antonov's assets.[21][22] The State Concern "Antonov" (a business group, created in 2005 from the merger of several legally independent companies into a single economic entity under unified management) will be liquidated as a residual corporate entity. Antonov State Company, Kharkiv State Aviation Manufacturing Enterprise and Plant No.410 of Civil Aviation were transferred under the management of another state-owned concern Ukroboronprom in 2015. Antonov State Company continues to function as an enterprise.[23]
On 31 March 2017, the first prototype of a new multifunctional cargo planeAn-132 – a demonstration plane An-132D – took to the air from the runway of Sviatoshyn airfield. The An-132 development program had been implemented in the framework of a contract with a customer from Saudi Arabia.
On 24 February 2022, at the beginning ofRussia's full-scale invasion in Ukraine, the first attacks were launched atKyiv-Antonov-2 airfield, the site of Antonov's test flights and home base of the planes ofAntonov Airlines. The planesАn-225Mriya,[24]An-26,An-74 and administrative premises were destroyed. The planes Аn-12, Аn-22, Аn-28, Аn-132D and Аn-124-100-150, the hangars and other infrastructure were severely damaged.
The Security Service of Ukraine established that the former director general of Antonov Company Serhiy Bychkov had not provided access to the site for the National Guard in January and February 2022 and thus obstructed preparations for defence.[25]
The investigators consider that Bychkov's negligence is the direct cause of the loss ofMriya, because the plane could have been sent to Germany long before February 24. In March 2023, Serhiy Bychkov was arrested, in April he faced formal suspicion in connection with the loss of An-225Mriya and damages to Antonov amounting to ₴8.4 million.[26][27][28]
Antonov's primary activity has generally been in developing large militarytransport aircraft, including the world's largest airplanes, chiefly for theRussian Federation and its predecessor nations.[31][32]
Additionally, Antonov has producedairliners. It has also produced numerous variants of both transports and airliners, for operations ranging fromair freight hauling to militaryreconnaissance, command and control operations.[31]
It has also developed variousgeneral aviation light aircraft, having originated as a producer of gliders.[31]
Antonov's aeroplanes (design office prefixAn) range from the ruggedAn-2biplane through theAn-28 reconnaissance aircraft to the massiveAn-124 Ruslan andAn-225 Mriyastrategic airlifters (the latter being the world's heaviest aircraft and was the only one in service).[31]
Sometimes defunct and sometimes normal, theAn-24,An-26,An-30 andAn-32 family of twinturboprop, 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. TheAn-72/An-74 series of small jetliners is slowly replacing that fleet, and a largerAn-70 freighter is under certification.
TheAntonov An-148 is a newregional airliner of twin-turbofan configuration. Over 150 aircraft have been ordered since 2007. A stretched version is in development, theAn-158 (from 60–70 to 90–100 passengers).
In an effort to replace the An-2SKh and following the failure of the WSK-Mielec M-15, a turboprop version was proposed with a new fuselage featuring a hunchback for the cockpit and an An-2M tail. Cancelled as too ambitious.
2010 projected refueling tanker, co-developed with US Aerospace and based on the An-70. A competitor in theKC-X program, it was cancelled for being submitted too late, despite protests from US Aerospace.
Proposed 1966 development of An-22 with turbojet engines, a T-tail and swept wings. Developed as a response to the C-5 Galaxy, but cancelled in 1967 as it had no advantage over the An-22 and was inferior to the C-5.
An-124 derived strategic airlifter. The largest aircraft ever built; only one put into service. Destroyed in theBattle of Antonov Airport in February 2022.[35]
1964 small trijet airliner project to replace the Li-2, Il-12 and Il-14, developed in cooperation with Beriev. Cancelled in favor of the Yakovlev Yak-40, which was also in development at the time.
^ab"ANTONOV history".www.antonov.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved29 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^У результаті російської атаки згорів найбільший в світі літак «Мрія» [As a result of the Russian attack, the world's largest aircraft "Mriya" burned down].Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 27 February 2022.Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved28 February 2022.У результаті повітряної атаки російських військ на аеропорт Гостомель під Києвом був спалений один із найбільших та найпотужніших літаків у світі українського виробництва АН-225 «Мрія». Про це Радіо Свобода повідомили два поінформованих джерела на підприємстві «Антонов» та підтвердив міський голова міста Буча. [As a result of an air attack by Russian troops on Gostomel Airport near Kyiv, one of the largest and most powerful Ukrainian-made AN-225 "Mriya " aircraft in the world was burned. This was reported to Radio Svoboda by two informed sources at the Antonov enterprise and confirmed by the mayor of Bucha.]