Antonov An-124

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Антонов Ан-124 «Руслан») (NATO reporting name: Condor) is a strategic airlift jet aircraft. It was designed by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union. The An-124 is the world's second highest gross weight production cargo airplane behind the Boeing 747-8F and world's third heaviest operating cargo aircraft, behind the one-off Antonov An-225 (a greatly enlarged design based on the An-124) and the Boeing 747-8F.

During development it was known as Izdeliye 400 in house, and An-40 in the West. First flown in 1982, civil certification was issued on 30 December 1992. Over 40 are in service (26 civilian models with airlines and 10 firm orders as of August 2006) and 20 were in commercial use in 1998 in Ukraine, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.

Development
During the 1970s, the VTA (Military Transport Aviation) arm of the Soviet Air Force had a shortfall in strategic heavy airlift capacity. Its largest planes consisted of about 50 Antonov An-22 turboprops, which were used heavily for tactical roles. A classified 1975 CIA analysis concluded that the USSR did "...not match the US in ability to provide long-range heavy lift support."

The An-124 was manufactured in parallel by two plants: the Russian company Aviastar-SP (ex. Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex) and by the Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT, in Ukraine. Design work started in 1971 and construction of facilities began in 1973. Manufacturing on the first airframe began in 1979. Ultimately this project brought together over 100 factories contracted to produce systems and parts.

The first flight took place in December 1982 and the first exposure to the West followed in 1985 at the Paris Air Show.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to resume the production in the third quarter of 2008. In May 2008, a new variant—the An-124-150—was announced; it featured several improvements, including a maximum lift capacity of 150 tonnes. However, in May 2009, Antonov's partner, United Aircraft Corporation announced it did not plan production of An-124s in the period 2009–2012. In late 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered production of the aircraft resumed. It is expected that Russia will purchase 20 new aircraft.

Design


Externally, the An-124 is similar to the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but has a 25% larger payload, and instead of the Galaxy's T-tail, the An-124 uses a conventional empennage, similar in design to that of the Boeing 747. The An-124 has been used to carry locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages, and a variety of other oversized cargoes. The aircraft is able to kneel to allow easier front loading; and has an onboard overhead crane capable of lifting up to 30 tonnes of cargo, and items up to 120 tonnes can be winched on board.

Up to 150 t of cargo can be carried in a military An-124; it can also carry 88 passengers in an upper deck behind the wing centre section. The cargo compartment of An-124 is, ca. 20% larger than the main cargo compartment of C-5 Galaxy, which is. Due to limited pressurization in the main cargo compartment (24.6 kPa, 3.57 psi), it seldom carries paratroopers.

Pilots have stated that the An-124 is light on the controls and easy to handle for an aircraft of its size.

Some airports require pavement protection from the heat and blast effects of the An-124's auxiliary power unit.

Operational history
Germany led the recent effort to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements. Two aircraft are leased from SALIS GmbH as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available. Under NATO SALIS programme NAMSA is chartering six An-124-100 transport aircraft. According to the contract An-124-100s of Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr are used within the limits of NATO SALIS programme to transport cargo by requests of 18 countries: Belgium, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Sweden. Two An-124-100s are constantly based on full-time charter in the Leipzig/Halle airport, but the contract specifies that if necessary, two more aircraft will be provided on six days notice and another two on nine days notice. The aircraft proved extremely useful for NATO especially with ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.



United Launch Alliance (ULA) contracts the An-124 to transport the Atlas V launch vehicle from its facilities in Decatur, Alabama to Cape Canaveral. ULA also uses the An-124 to transport the Atlas V launch vehicle and Centaur upper stage from their manufacturing facility in Denver, Colorado to Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. Two flights are required to transfer each launch vehicle (one for the Atlas V main booster stage and another for the Centaur upper stage). It is also contracted by Space Systems Loral to transport satellites from Palo Alto, CA to the Arianespace spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Airbus Transport International, a subsidiary of Airbus, has selected another Russian cargo company, Polet Airlines as "designated carrier" to the company. Polet expects its three An-124-100s will transport astronautic equipment manufactured by EADS, which is Airbus' parent company, and components of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is the only A380 engine that can be transported whole in a Boeing 747F.

As of 2013 the An-124 has visited 768 airports in over 100 countries.

Significant activities

 * On May 1987, an An-124 set a world record, covering the distance of 20151 km without refuelling. The flight took 25 hours and 30 minutes; the takeoff weight was 455,000 kg.
 * In July 1985, an An-124 carried 171,219 kg (377,473 lb) of cargo to an altitude of 2000 m and 170,000 kg to an altitude of 10,750 m (35,270 ft).
 * An An-124 was used to transport the Obelisk of Axum back to its native homeland of Ethiopia from Rome in April 2005.
 * An An-124 was used to transport an EP-3E Aries II electronic intelligence aircraft from Hainan Island, China on 4 July 2001 following the Hainan Island incident.
 * An An-124 was used in April 2011 to airlift a large Putzmeister concrete pump from Germany to Japan to help cool reactors damaged in the Fukushima nuclear accident. The An-225 was used to transport an even larger pump to Japan from the United States.

Variants

 * An-124 Ruslan
 * Strategic heavy airlift transport aircraft


 * An-124-100
 * Commercial transport aircraft


 * An-124-100M-150
 * Commercial transport version fitted with Western avionics


 * An-124-102
 * Commercial transport version with an EFIS flight deck


 * An-124-130
 * Proposed version


 * An-124-135
 * Variant with one seat in the rear and the rest of the cargo area (approx. 1,800 square feet) dedicated to freight


 * An-124-150
 * Planned new variant with several new features


 * An-124-200
 * Proposed version with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, each rated at 59,200 lbf (263 kN)


 * An-124-210
 * Joint proposal with Air Foyle to meet UK's Short Term Strategic Airlifter (STSA) requirement, with Rolls-Royce RB211-524H-T engines, each rated 60,600 lbf (264 kN) and Honeywell avionics—STSA competition abandoned in August 1999, reinstated, and won by the Boeing C-17A.


 * An-124-300
 * variant ordered by the Russian Air Force with new avionics, a new improved braking system and a payload of 150 tons.

Military

 * Russian Air Force (14 + more in reserve, By 2020 it is planned total to upgrade 20 aircraft in the version of An-124-100, including aircraft in storage )
 * Military Transport Aviation
 * 12th Military Transport Air Division – Tver (Migalovo);
 * 566th Military Transport Air Regiment – Seshcha, Bryansk Oblast – Il-76, An-124;
 * 224th Air Detachment of Military Transport Aviation – Tver – An-124-100, Il-76MD;
 * 224th Air Detachment of Military Transport Aviation – Tver – An-124-100, Il-76MD;

Former military operators

 * Soviet Air Force
 * Soviet Air Force

Civil


In September 2009, a total of 28 An-124 aircraft were in airline service, with a further 10 firm orders.


 * 🇱🇾 Libya
 * Libyan Arab Air Cargo (2)
 * Volga-Dnepr (10)+ 5 on order.
 * Polet Airlines (8)+ 5 on order.
 * Antonov Airlines (7)
 * Maximus Air Cargo (1)
 * Antonov Airlines (7)
 * Maximus Air Cargo (1)
 * Maximus Air Cargo (1)

Former civil operators

 * Aeroflot Russian International Airlines
 * Ayaks
 * Russian State Transport Company
 * Transaero Airlines
 * Aeroflot Soviet Airlines
 * Air Foyle (in partnership with Antonov Design Bureau) – joint venture dissolved 2006
 * HeavyLift Cargo Airlines (in partnership with Volga-Dnepr Airlines)
 * Antonov AirTrack
 * Titan Cargo – company ceased operations 2002
 * TransCharter Titan Cargo
 * Antonov AirTrack
 * Titan Cargo – company ceased operations 2002
 * TransCharter Titan Cargo

Notable accidents
As of 2011, four An-124 hull-loss accidents have been recorded, with a total of 97 fatalities:


 * On 13 October 1992, SSSR-82002, operated by Antonov Airlines crashed near Kiev, Ukraine during flight testing. 8 fatalities.
 * On 15 November 1993, RA-82071, operated by Aviastar Airlines crashed into a mountain at 11000 ft while in a holding pattern at Kerman, Iran. 17 fatalities.
 * On 8 October 1996, RA-82069, owned by Aeroflot but operated by Ajax, crashed at San Francesco al Campo, Italy, while initiating a go-around after a low visibility approach on Turin Caselle airport's runway 36. 4 fatalities.
 * On 6 December 1997, RA-82005, operated by the Russian Air Force, crashed in a residential area after take-off in Irkutsk, Russia. All 23 people on board and 44 people on the ground were killed.

Flight range

 * An-124-100
 * 0 tons of cargo= 15000 km
 * 10 tons of cargo= 14100 km
 * 20 tons of cargo= 13250 km
 * 30 tons of cargo= 12300 km
 * 40 tons of cargo= 11500 km
 * 72 tons of cargo= 8700 km
 * 90 tons of cargo= 7100 km
 * 97 tons of cargo= 6500 km
 * 104 tons of cargo= 5900 km
 * 108 tons of cargo= 5550 km
 * 120 tons of cargo= 4500 km


 * Аn-124-100М-150
 * 40 tons of cargo= 11900 km
 * 92 tons of cargo= 7500 km
 * 113 tons of cargo= 5900 km
 * 120 tons of cargo= 5400 km
 * 122 tons of cargo= 5200 km
 * 150 tons of cargo= 3200 km