India is interested in the Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise’s An-188 transport plane, which is still in development, as well as in the An-124 "Ruslan" transport plane, which has been out of production for a long time. The press service of the Ukroboronprom state defense concern announced this in a statement.
For now, India and Ukraine are establishing "a relationship model that will mark the beginning of cooperation for decades," Ukroboronprom’s Deputy Director General for Foreign Economic Activity Denys Hurak said.
As reported, the Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise is participating in a tender for supply of more than 200 transport planes to the Indian armed forces and, according to media reports, it is seen as the leading bidder. If the Ukrainian-Indian consortium formed by the Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise and Reliance Defense (India) wins the tender, the Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise will establish assembly of aircraft of the An-148 family in India.
As for the An-188 aircraft, it will match the An-70 aircraft in terms of payload, but it will be equipped with jet engines. The Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise’s head Mykhailo Hvozdev said in an interview with the CFTS portal the An-188 aircraft would be fitted with Western equipment and engines and that it would be able to take off from short runways (915 meters).
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