Airbus Military owns the design documentation and intellectual property rights to the An-2 multi-purpose aircraft (the Kukuruznik). The director of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade’s aviation industry department, Andrei Boginsky, announced this at a meeting of the Russian Federation Council’s committee on the state program for development of the aviation industry, the Vedomosti publication reports, citing TASS.
"We have conducted our own investigation - if I may say so - and found that the documentation for the An-2 was sold to Poland during the Soviet era, and, strangely enough, it is now owned by Airbus Military," he said. According to him, the absence of the documentation does not allow development of a new regional aircraft based on the An-2.
The An-2 aircraft that were preserved from the Soviet era are currently being repaired in Russia. The engines on 62 of the aircraft are expected to be replaced by the end of this year.
The An-2 is a multipurpose biplane that is used as an agricultural, sports, transport, and passenger aircraft. It is in service in the air forces of many countries. With 18,000 produced, the An-2 is one of the most mass-produced aircraft in history. Its production in Poland continued until 2002.
