Antonov An-124

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Ukrainian: 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.

An-124 Ruslan

A Polet Airlines An-124 approaching Sheremetyevo International Airport (July 2011)
Role	Transport aircraft
National origin	Soviet Union
Manufacturer	Antonov, Aviastar-SP
First flight	26 December 1982
Introduction	1986
Status	In service
Primary users	Russian Air Force Antonov Airlines Volga-Dnepr Airlines
Produced	1982–present
Unit cost	US$70–100 million
Developed into	Antonov An-225

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."

An-124-100 kneeling with front ramp down (note tilt of aircraft fuselage and retraction of front wheels)

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. Series production ceased with the breakup of the Soviet Union. The last five unfinished airframes left from the Soviet times were completed in 2001 (1), 2002 (1), and 2004 (3).

Since the type was initially designed only for occasional military use, original An-124s were built with a projected service life of 7,500 flight hours with possibility for extension. However many airframes have flown more than 15,000 flight hours. In response to complaints by commercial users, the An-124-100 version has been built since 2000 with an improved service life of 24,000 hours. Older airframes are being upgraded to this standard. Additional retrofiting is being performed to extend its service life to 40,000 flight hours. The Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT offers upgrades to the Аn-124-100М-150 version.

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

Cockpit of a Polet An-124

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 tonnes (150 long tons; 170 short tons) 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 36×6.4×4.4 m (118×21×14 ft), ca. 20% larger than the main cargo compartment of C-5 Galaxy, which is 36.91×5.79×4.09 m (121.1×19.0×13.4 ft). 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 contract was valid until 31 December 2010. The aircraft proved extremely useful for NATO especially with ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle "Mystic" being loaded at Naval Air Station North Island, California

Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr has contracts with Boeing to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant. The An-124 is used for airlifting (in fully assembled form) the massive General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used on the Boeing 777 airliner. Rolls-Royce also contracts the Antonov An-124 to transport the Trent family engines to and from their test facilities worldwide.

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; the competing Engine Alliance GP7200 engine needs a larger aircraft, like the An-124, for shipping in one piece.

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

Significant activities

Photo:Dmitry Avdeev

Polet Airlines An-124 being loaded with a downscaled model of an Airbus A380 centre fuselage section in Emirates livery

On May 1987, an An-124 set a world record, covering the distance of 20,151 km (10,881 nmi) without refuelling. The flight took 25 hours and 30 minutes; the takeoff weight was 455,000 kg. The previous record was held by a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (18,245 km).
In July 1985, an An-124 carried 171,219 kg (377,473 lb) of cargo to an altitude of 2,000 m (6,600 ft) 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. The shipment was made in three trips, each carrying a third of the monument's 160 tons and 24-metre (78 ft) length. The airstrip at Axum was modified to accommodate such a large aircraft.^{[citation needed]}
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 transported the first of IÉ's new 201 Class (JT42HCW) locomotives from Canada to Ireland in June 1994.
A Volga-Dnepr An-124 delivered a whale from Nice (France) to Japan; another flight was to deliver an elephant from Moscow to Taiwan.
An-124s provided by Ruslan International, a specialist transport company based at Stansted UK, have been used on several occasions by BAE Systems to transport airframes as part of their Nimrod refurbishment programme.
An An-124 was used in the James Bond film Die Another Day, though the interior shots appear to be of an Ilyushin Il-76.
An An-124 was used in Fast & Furious 6 which the antagonists tried taking off in before the plane was brought down by cars firing grappling hooks into the wing.
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

Volga-Dnepr Antonov An-124-100M-150 with nose door open at MAKS 2005, Moscow – Zhukovskiy; Cubana de Aviación Ilyushin Il-96 in background.

An-124-100 of Maximus Air Cargo at Brno Airport (2010).

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.

Operators

An-124 of Russia State Transport Company at Perth Airport in the mid-1990s

Military

Russia

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;

Former military operators

Soviet Union

Soviet Air Force

Civil

A Volga-Dnepr An-124-100

224th Flight Unit An-124 inflight with 2 Sukhoi Su-27s of the Falcons of Russia at the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade.

An-124 of Libyan Arab Air Cargo.

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)

Russia

Volga-Dnepr (10)+ 5 on order.
Polet Airlines (8)+ 5 on order.

Ukraine

Antonov Airlines (7)

United Arab Emirates

Maximus Air Cargo (1)

Former civil operators

Russia

Aeroflot Russian International Airlines
Ayaks
Russian State Transport Company
Transaero Airlines

Soviet Union

Aeroflot Soviet Airlines

United Kingdom

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

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 11,000 feet (3,400 m) 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.

Specifications (An-124-100M-150)

Data from Antonov.com

General characteristics

Crew: 4-6 (pilot, copilot, navigator, senior flight engineer (+flight engineer, radio man) + 2 loadmasters)
Capacity: 88 passengers or the hold can take an additional 350 on a palletised seating system
Payload: 150,000 kg (330,000 lb)
Length: 68.96 m (226 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 73.3 m (240 ft 5 in)
Height: 20.78 m (68 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 628 m² (6,760 sq ft)
Empty weight: 175,000 kg (385,000 lb)
Loaded weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
Useful load: 230,000 kg (508,000 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 865 km/h (467 kn (537 mph))
Cruise speed: 800–850 km/h (430 kn (490 mph))
Range: 5,200 km (2,808 nm, 3231 mi)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
Wing loading: 365 kg/m² (74.7 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight: 0.23
Take-off run distance (maximum take-off weight): 2,520 m (8,270 ft)
Landing roll distance at maximum landing weight: 900 m (3,000 ft)

Flight range

An-124-100

0 tons of cargo= 15,000 km (8,100 nmi)
10 tons of cargo= 14,100 km (7,613 nmi)
20 tons of cargo= 13,250 km (7,154 nmi)
30 tons of cargo= 12,300 km (6,641 nmi)
40 tons of cargo= 11,500 km (6,210 nmi)
72 tons of cargo= 8,700 km (4,698 nmi)
90 tons of cargo= 7,100 km (3,834 nmi)
97 tons of cargo= 6,500 km (3,510 nmi)
104 tons of cargo= 5,900 km (3,186 nmi)
108 tons of cargo= 5,550 km (2,997 nmi)
120 tons of cargo= 4,500 km (2,430 nmi)

Аn-124-100М-150

40 tons of cargo= 11,900 km (6,425 nmi)
92 tons of cargo= 7,500 km (4,050 nmi)
113 tons of cargo= 5,900 km (3,186 nmi)
120 tons of cargo= 5,400 km (2,916 nmi)
122 tons of cargo= 5,200 km (2,808 nmi)
150 tons of cargo= 3,200 km (1,728 nmi)

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-124

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