Antonov

Antonov State Company (Державне підприємство "Антонов"), formerly the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (Авіаційний науково-технічний комплекс імені Антонова, АНТК ім. Антонова), and earlier the Antonov Design Bureau, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company. Antonov's particular expertise is in the fields of very large aeroplanes and aeroplanes using unprepared runways. Antonov (model prefix An-) has built a total of approximately 22,000 aircraft, and thousands of planes are currently operating in the former Soviet Union and in developing countries.

Antonov StC is a state-owned commercial company. Its headquarters and main industrial ground are located in and adjacent to Kiev.

Foundation and relocation
The company was established in 1946 in Novosibirsk as a top-secret Soviet Research and Design Bureau No. 153, headed by Oleg Antonov and specialised in turboprop military transport aircraft. The An-2 biplane is a major achievement of this period with hundreds of aircraft still operated as of 2013. In 1952, the Bureau was relocated to Kiev, a city with rich aviation history where aircraft-manufacturing infrastructure was being restored after the World War II destruction.

First serial aircraft and expansion
In 1957, the bureau successfully introduced the An-10/An-12 family of mid-range turboprop aeroplanes into mass production (thousands of aircraft were manufactured). The model have been seeing heavy combat and civil use around the globe to the present day, most notably in the Vietnam War, Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Chernobyl disaster relief megaoperation.

In 1959, the bureau began construction of the separate Flight Testing and Improvement Base in suburban Hostomel (now the Antonov Airport).

In 1965, the Antonov An-22 heavy military transport enters serial production, supplementing the An-12 in major military and humanitarian airlifts of the Soviet Union. The model became the first Soviet wide-body aircraft and remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft to date. Antonov designed and presented a nuclear-powered version of the An-22 which, however, never entered flight testing phase.

In 1966, after major expansion in the Sviatoshyn 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.

Prominence and Antonov's retirement
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the company established itself as USSR'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 is officially renamed as the Research and Design Bureau named after O.K. Antonov (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
In the late 1980s, the Antonov Bureau achieved global prominence after introduction of its extra large aeroplanes. The An-124 "Ruslan" (1982) became Soviet Union's serial-produced strategic airlifter. The Bureau enlarged the "Ruslan" design even more for the Soviet space shuttle programme logistics, creating the An-225 "Mriya" in 1989. "Mriya" has since been the world's largest and heaviest aeroplane.

End of the Cold War and perestroyka allowed the Antonov's first step to commercialisation and foreign expansion. In 1989, the Antonov Airlines subsidiary was created for its own aircraft maintenance and cargo projects.

Independent Ukraine
Antonov Design Bureau remained a state-owned company after Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991 and is since regarded as a strategic national asset.

Expansion to free market
Since independence, Antonov is busy with certifying and marketing of its models (both Soviet-era and newly developed) to free commercial aeroplanes' markets. New models introduced to serial production and delivered to customers include the Antonov An-140, Antonov An-148 and Antonov An-158 regional airliners.

Among several modernisation projects, Antonov received orders for upgrading "hundreds" of its legendary An-2 utility planes still in operation in Azerbaijan, Cuba and Russia to the An-2-100 upgrade version.

Production facilities' consolidation
During the Soviet period, not all Antonov-designed aircraft were manufactured by the company itself. This was a result of Soviet industrial strategy that split military production between different regions of the USSR to minimise potential war loss risks. As a result, Antonov aeroplanes are often assembled by the specialist contract manufacturers.

In 2009, the once-independent "Aviant" aeroplane-assembling plant in Kyiv became part of the Antonov State Company, 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 like Iran's HESA.

Products and activities
Fields of commercial activity of Antonov ASTC include:
 * Aircraft design and manufacturing
 * Cargo air transport (Antonov Airlines)
 * Aircraft maintenance, testing, certification and upgrading
 * Aerospace-related research and engineering
 * "Aerial Launch": a joint Russian-Ukrainian project of midair spacecraft space launch from aboard a modified version of the An-225.
 * Operation of the Gostomel airport (Antonov Airport)
 * Trolley bus construction and manufacture (a spin-off, using existing technical expertise).

Aircraft
Antonov's aeroplanes (design office prefix An) range from the rugged An-2 biplane (which itself is comparatively large for a biplane) through the An-28 reconnaissance aircraft to the massive An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya strategic airlifters (the latter being the world's heaviest aircraft with only one currently in service). Whilst less famous, the An-24, An-26, An-30 and An-32 family of twin turboprop, 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. The An-72/An-74 series of small jetliners is slowly replacing that fleet, and a larger An-70 freighter is under certification.

The Antonov An-148 is a new regional airliner of twin-turbofan configuration. Over 150 aircraft have been ordered since 2007. A stretched version is in development, the An-158 (from 60–70 to 90–100 passengers).

Contract and licensee manufacturers

 * Kharkiv State Aviation Manufacturing Enterprise – Kharkiv, Ukraine
 * Tashkent Aviation Production Association (formerly Tashkent State Aviation Plant) – Tashkent, Uzbekistan
 * Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) – Shahin Shahr, Iran
 * Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO) – Voronezh, Russia