The World’s Largest Plane Is Being Rebuilt The Russian Army Is Struggling With These Problems

Sensational news from Leipzig: An exhibition about the giant Antonov and the airline opened there on Monday at the airport. Antonov General Director Eugene Gavrylov revealed that the world’s largest aircraft is being rebuilt.

As the Bild newspaper reported, reconstruction is already 30 percent complete. Working in a secret place. The basis for the new megaplane is the never-completed second Antonov An-225. It is supplemented with parts from the bombed-out machine and new parts.

Antonov in Leipzig: A “dream” comes back to life

Leipzig/Halle Airport will help with financing by selling merchandise products such as An-225 models and soliciting sponsors for the project. The construction of the new An-225 from the two old ones will cost about 500 million euros.

The legendary giant Antonov, nicknamed “Mriya” (“Dream”), was the longest aircraft in the world at 84 meters. The six-engine cargo plane was the pride of Ukraine and a much admired guest at many airports around the world. It had a wingspan of 88.4 meters. The maximum takeoff weight was 640 tons – about half that of a fully loaded jumbo jet (Boeing B747) with 447 tons.

Attack and destruction by paratroopers in February

There was only one example, completed in 1988. Construction of a second machine was then canceled and the parts already produced were stored for decades.

In February 2022, Russian paratroopers attacked the main Antonov base at Hostomel airport near Kiev. A rescue of the An-225 was missed.

An-225 chief pilot Dmytro Antonov said the crew planned to fly out of the plane in the dramatic morning hours of Feb. 24, when the attacks began. The machine could have flown to Leipzig, where it had a permanent place. The engines had started, but the start order had not come. (t-online, mtt )