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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 0135.PDF
Antonov's An-70 had its maiden flight in December, but funding shortages threaten its development. ALEXANDER VELOVICH/MOSCOW Alarge crowd of workers, designers and officials received an early, but welcome, Christmas present at Svyatoshino air field, Kiev, on 16 December, 1994, when the Antonov An-70 took off for the first time. It did so after a demonstratively short take-off run. 1 Ialf an hour later, and earlier than initial ly expected because of worsening weather con ditions, the transport — the first aircraft in the world to be flown powered by propfans only — landed at Gostomel flight-test centre ahead of an approaching snowstorm. Bad weather is probably the least demand ing of the challenges which threaten develop ment of the An-70. The most obvious problem is one of funding, arising from the unstable political and economical climate of the CIS. The An-70, now a co-operative effort between diree states — Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan, was designed originally in the mid- 1970sto meet the specification of the then- Soviet air force for an advanced, fuel-efficient, military transport which could be substituted for the 1960s-vintage Antonov An-12 Cubs still in service and take over a substantial part of trans port operations from the heavier Ilyushin U-76. With unique requirements for short-runway operations and very last loading/unloading pro cedures, the An-70 should be a welcome addi tion lor the Russian military to implement its new doctrine, which emphasises air mobility. The Russian air force still wants such a transport, a desire confirmed by the presence of air force chief of acquisition Lt Gen Stanislav Nazarenko at the maiden flight cere mony. There are doubts, however, that the air force will have enough money to shoulder Antonov An-70: heir A Paris 1995 debut is planned for the aircraft alone the burden of financing An-70 develop ment and future deliveries. Hopes that Ukraine will provide the funding have even less substance. Of the 20011-76 transports now operational in Ukraine, 144 need urgent repair, but there is no money to pay even for that. Antonov has tried to find a solution by attracting commercial investors, who have been tempted by the perceived export poten tial ol the aircraft. OPTIMISTIC EXPECTATIONS Expectations that the An-70, and its future commercial variant, the An-70T, will conquer the international market appear to be based on unprovcn optimism. During the first flight, Boris Soldatenko, president of the Kiev- aviaprom association, said: "Today we have blown up the Euroflag FLA project. The whole West will come to us for such an air craft." Nazarenko is equally optimistic, saying that even the US military may become inter ested in the new transport. Xazarenko esti mates that the world market for this class of transport is 2,000-2,500 aircraft. Although the An-70 performance is undoubtedly promising, it defies credibility that Western countries will be queuing up to order it, il only lor political reasons. Despite this, the An-70 has already been cited as a pro ject which could bring prosperity to one of the biggest Russian airframe manufacturers, AVT.S Samara. The plant was declared bankrupt in September 1994 following the continuing dif ficulties of selling the Tupolev Tu-154M air liner. AVT.S received a manager, Lev Khasis, who was appointed by a court on the sugges tion of a creditors' meeting. Almost as soon as he arrived, Khasis ordered preparations for series production of the An-70. Khasis says that the first production An-70 will be ready in the first quarter of 1997. To gear up for production, the Samara plant has established the Aviakor corporation, with the aim of attracting outside investors. Aviakor may be joined by the AvtoVAZ hank, one of the leading commercial banks in Russia, to form an industrial-financial group which will be able to take advantage of taxation privileges. AvtoVAZ president Petr Makhmanovich is already on the Aviakor board of directors, chaired by Lev Khasis. Piotr Balabuyev, Antonov general designer, and Konstantin Titov, Samara governor, is also a member of the board, together with Victor Gorlov, deputy director of Rybinsk Motors, and Valentin KJimov, Tupolev general director. The Tupolev design bureau is probably the partner least interested in launching the An-70 for series production. The bureau has been lobbying for its own Tupolev Tu- 330 twinjet freighter, stressing its "purely Russian" origin and, in April 1994, managed to force a resolution by the Russian Government, signed by prime minister Victor Chernomyrdin, calling for develop ment and production of the Tu-330, pow ered by Perm Aviadvigatel PS-90 turbolans. 24 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 18 - 24 January 1995
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