The Antonov state aircraft manufacturing company will participate in the Eurasia 2018 airshow in Antalya (Turkey), which will take place from April 25 to 29. The An-178 and An-77 medium-range transport airplanes will be on display at the airshow. They will also perform demonstration flights. The airplanes arrived in Turkey on April 22, the CFTS reports, citing information from Antonov.
The An-77 aircraft is a rebrand of the An-70 aircraft, which was created in cooperation with the Russian Federation. The An-70 program has been shut down, and Antonov is now working on the An-77 project. Antonov’s main task is to replace the Russian units and components on the aircraft.
When a delegation from the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure visited Antonov in July last year, Antonov presented a proposal on joint development of the An-77.
Antonov proposed organizing cooperation on this project with broad participation of American aircraft manufacturers and equipment suppliers. However, the Ukrainian company did not specify the design changes that were made to the aircraft version that was sent to Turkey.
The modernized version of the An-77, which is medium-range military transport aircraft with short take-off and landing, can occupy a niche between the C-130 aircraft, which has a payload of up to 21 tons, and the C-17 aircraft, which has a payload of up to 76 tons.
Antonov and the Ukrinmash company displayed an An-70 aircraft at the Dubai Airshow 2017 in November last year, but the presentation materials that were distributed described the aircraft as the An-77 modification. It was reported that the prospects for the An-77 project (including its civilian version) were being discussed with the UAE.
