You're reading: Ukrainian Air Force, Antonov discuss plans to re-equip army with new aircraft

Kyiv-based Antonov State Enterprise is planning to create a new multipurpose transport aircraft based on An-158 for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will replace the obsolete An-12, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has reported.

The plans to re-equip the army with new aircraft were announced at a meeting between Ukrainian Air Force Commander Serhiy Onyschenko and Antonov General Designer Dmytro Kiva.

The parties discussed the ways to resolve problems on maintaining the airworthiness of An-24, An-26 and An-30 planes, as well as proposals on the army’s future need for new aircraft, including An-26 light military transport aircraft.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in the organization of flight tests and the mass production of the new An-70 short takeoff and landing transport aircraft.

As reported, Antonov is planning to create the new An-178 transport aircraft with a cargo capacity of up to 15 tonnes to transport military and commercial cargo.