A commission of the Defense Ministry examining the An-70 aircraft program has completed its work at the Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv), the enterprise's press service reported on Thursday.
The enterprise has accomplished the full range of tests, calculations and strength tests that were envisaged by the program, including the static testing of wing devices, control surfaces, an engine installation, landing gear legs and doors, the radar dome and other units, the press service said.
The tests have shown that the aircraft design meets damage tolerance requirements, the aircraft is easily inspected and can be operated without major repairs, the press service said.
The tests also proved the design integrity of the An-70. As the result of the tests, the aircraft received a certificate of Russia’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute confirming its static structural strength.
The tests removed structural limitations to the completion the joint flight tests, the enterprise said.
The members of the Defense Ministry commission also learned about the progress of the flight test program. After completing an extensive modernization, the An-70 made 30 test flights totaling about 50 hours. On the whole, the An-70 prototype model performed about 670 flights totaling more than 710 hours, the press service said.
In August 2009, Ukraine and Russia signed a protocol to amend the Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental agreement on further cooperation in the development, joint commercial production and commissioning of the An-70 tactical military-transport aircraft and the An-70T airlifter, which was signed on June 24, 1993.
Russia’s state defense program foresees the procurement of 60 An-70 aircraft by 2020. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, mass production of An-70 will be started in 2014. The An-70 military transport plane is to be manufactured at the Kazan Aviation Production Association (KAPA).
At present, the An-70 is being tested after the upgrade of on board equipment and the engine. Then it is planned to start the second stage of the joint Ukrainian program of state tests of the An-70 with the participation of defense ministries of Russia and Ukraine, which are to be completed in Q1, 2013.
The state program on the development of armament and military machinery of Ukraine for 2012-2017 foresees supplies of two An-70 aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2014.
The An-70 aircraft beats all existing competitors as of today in terms of its technical specifications. For example, the European A400M cannot compete with it in terms of the weight-lift ability and cargo hold size: the maximum weight-lift ability of the An-70 is 47 tonnes, while the declared weight-lift ability of the A400M is 37 tonnes; the cargo hold size of an An-70 is 425 cubic meters, while that of the A400M-is 340 cubic meters. In addition, the price and operating costs of the An-70 are half those of its European competitor. According to European experts, the cost of the A400M is EUR 145 million at present.
