The Antonov An-225 was the largest aircraft in the world. The cargo ship, built in the Soviet Union, was in Ukraine until the beginning of the war. On February 27, the aircraft was destroyed in an attack by Russian troops in the hangar in Gostomel near Kiev. According to pilot Dmytro Antonov, who flew the plane on February 5, the damage was irreparable.
But now the Ukrainians are apparently planning to rebuild the An-225 “Mriya” (“dream” in Ukrainian). For this, parts from the destroyed machine and a second Antonov, which is never finished, are used. The Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer also hopes for sponsors from Germany and other aircraft manufacturers, “Aerotelegraph” reports.
New Antonov in the planning phase
Appropriate plans were already made in April. According to Yevheni Gavrylov (42), director general of Antonov Airlines, construction has already started. “The work on the machine is done in a secret place,” he told “Bild” at the opening of an Antonov exhibition at Leipzig airport. Photos will be sold at the exhibition to raise extra money for the expensive project.
However, the company writes on Twitter that the information in the “Bild” interview is “inaccurate”. At the moment only “planning work” is underway.
According to this, there are currently about 30 percent of the components that can be used. The costs are at least 500 million euros. As “Aerotelegraph” writes, it was $3 billion in the beginning.
Boeing and Airbus must help
Ukraine is looking for sponsors for this. Dmytro Antonov told MDR: “We are still in contact with manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus and Embraer to ask them to help us rebuild Mriya. We are also examining the wreckage of the destroyed machine to see if we can reuse some parts. But we won’t know until after the war how expensive the whole thing will be.”
The Soviet giant bird was built only once. It weighed 175 tons empty, the maximum take-off weight was 600 tons. In addition, the Antonov had six engines and a wingspan of 88 meters. (Man)