Antonov

For other uses, see Antonov (disambiguation).

Antonov State Company

File:Transparent Antonov logo.png
Native name	Державне підприємство "Антонов"
Type	State-owned company
Industry	Aerospace and defence
Founded	Novosibirsk, USSR (May 31, 1946 (1946-05-31))
Headquarters	Kiev, Ukraine
Key people	Oleg Antonov, first chief/prominent designer Dmitry Kiva, chief
Products	Aircraft of various applications Aircraft maintenance Cargo air transport
Employees	12,000
Divisions	Antonov Serial Production Plant Antonov Airlines Antonov Airport
Website	antonov.com

Antonov State Company (Ukrainian: Державне підприємство "Антонов"), formerly the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (Ukrainian: 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.

History

Soviet era

Foundation and relocation

Antonov An-2, mass-produced Soviet utility aeroplane.

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

An-12, Cold War-era tactical transport, in flight.

47-year-old An-12 still in operational condition in 2011.

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

Antonov An-24, the Soviet Union's most common regional airliner.

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 (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 is the largest operating aircraft in the world.

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

Rollout of the first serially-produced An-148 at Antonov's hangar in Kiev, 2009. An An-124 under maintenance seen in the far corner of the hangar.

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).

Aircraft	Name	NATO	Maiden flight	Remarks
A-40	Krylaty Tank		2 September 1942	Winged tank
An-2	Kukuruznik	Colt	31 August 1947	multi-purpose, biplane, single-engine utility transport.
An-2-100	Kukuruznik	Colt	10 July 2013	An-2 upgrade version refitted with Motor Sich kerosene-fueled engine (instead of original avgas).
An-3		Colt	13 May 1980	turboprop conversion of An-2
An-4		Colt	31 July 1951	float-equipped An-2
An-6	Meteo	Colt	21 March 1948	weather reconnaissance aircraft based on An-2
An-8		Camp	11 February 1956	medium military transport
An-10	Ukraine	Cat	7 March 1957	medium turboprop-powered airliner
An-11				Motorised variant of the A-11 glider
An-12		Cub	16 December 1957	military turboprop-powered transport, developed from An-10
An-13			1962	Light aircraft developed from the A-13M motor glider
An-14	Pchelka	Clod	14 March 1958	light twin-engine transport
An-20				light turbocharged piston engine aircraft, developed from Cessna 210[citation needed]
An-22	Antei	Cock	27 February 1965	extremely large turboprop transport
An-24		Coke	20 October 1959	twin-turboprop airliner
An-26		Curl	21 May 1969	twin-turboprop transport, derived from An-24
An-28		Cash	September 1974	twin-turboprop light transport, developed from An-14
An-30		Clank	21 August 1967	An-24 adapted for aerial photography and mapping
An-32		Cline	9 July 1976	twin-turboprop hot-and-high transport, up-engined An-26 airframe
An-38		Cash	23 June 1994	twin-turboprop light transport, stretched An-28
An-40			cancelled	military transport developed from An-12
An-44				cargo aircraft project developed from An-24
An-50			cancelled	airliner project, developed from An-24V
An-51				civil piston utility aircraft
An-52				light twin-piston aircraft
An-70			16 December 1994	large military transport, powered by four propfan engines, to replace An-12
An-71		Madcap	12 July 1985	naval AWACS development of An-72
An-72	Cheburashka	Coaler	31 August 1977	STOL transport, utilising the Coandă effect
An-74	Cheburashka	Coaler	29 November 1983	civil version of An-72; version with engines below wings is called An-74TK-300
An-88				AWACS project, not completed
An-91				Twin-engined cabin monoplane development of Cessna 310
An-102				light agricultural aircraft
An-122				further development of An-22
An-124	Ruslan	Condor	26 December 1982	strategic airlifter; largest aircraft ever mass-produced
An-126				heavy transport aircraft project
An-140			17 September 1997	short-range turboprop airliner, to replace An-24
An-148			17 December 2004	regional jet for 68–85 passengers
An-158			28 April 2010	stretched version of An-148 for 99 passengers
An-168				business variant of An-148
An-171				stretched An-70
An-174				enlarged An-74 with engines below wings
An-178				military transport based on the An-158
An-180			cancelled	medium propfan airliner, around 175 passengers
An-204
An-218			postponed	propfan- or turbofan-powered widebody airliner
An-225	Mriya	Cossack	21 December 1988	An-124 derived strategic airlifter; largest aircraft ever built; only one has been put into service
An-325			cancelled	planned improvement of An-225
OKA-38	Storch			Copy of Fieseler Fi 156
SKV				Basis for An-14
T-2M	Maverick			ultralight trike for recreational club use and special forces requirements

Gliders

Antonov A-15 in Czech markings

Aircraft	Name	Maiden flight	Remarks
A-1		1930
A-2		1936
A-3	Molodv
A-6
A-7		1941
A-9		1948
A-10		1952
A-11		12 May 1958
A-13		1958
A-15		26 March 1960
DIP		1932	record glider developed from OKA-6
OKA-1	Golub	1924
OKA-2		1925
OKA-3		1928
OKA-5	Standard-2	1930
OKA-6	Gorod Lenina	1930
OKA-7	Bubik	1930
PS-2
RF-1		1933
RF-2		1933
RF-3		1933
RF-4		1933
RF-5		1934
RF-6
RF-7		1938

Major contractors and partners

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

See also

• Antonov Airlines
• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

Further reading

• MacFarquhar, Neil. "Aviation Giant Is Nearly Grounded in Ukraine." The New York Times. October 12, 2014. Corrected on October 12, 2014.

External links

• Antonov ASTC
• Antonov (Russian)