NEW Antonov AN-225 Is Now Making a MASSIVE Comeback! Here's Why

in 2022 the Antonov a225 Maria the largest plane in the world was destroyed Beyond repair by Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine the damage was so severe that most people expected it to be the end of the record-breaking Cold War era aircraft forever confining it to the history books but the Ukrainian government had other ideas but it looks now like the a225 could be set to make a massive return to understand why the Antonov a225 Maria is being rebuilt we need to know what made it so special in the first place as we all know the Cold War was an open yet restricted competition that unfolded after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union along with their respective allies not too much has changed but back in the 80s the Soviet Union continued to be embroiled in a fierce battle against the United States at times it looked like a battle to see who could develop the best space Tech the most devastating weapons and the aircrafts to deliver them to their targets since the late 60s the US had the mighty C5 Galaxy which was then the world's largest Transport Aircraft and the ussr's answer to this some 10 years later was the a124 rusan which was designed and built by Antonov the Soviet Union's dominant aircraft manufacturer however for the transportation of objects as large as space shuttles NASA used Boeing's massive 747s to carry them from launch sites and retrieved them when they landed back on Earth the Soviets had space shuttles of their own such as the Buran space gliders and needed an aircraft bigger than the a124 to carry them as well as other forms of cargo for a while the Soviets used the myish VMT Atlant as they looked to develop a larger more efficient aircraft for their space program this was when Antonov once again got the contract to design and build the perfect aircraft for the program which they called the Antonov a225 Mariah the main purpose of the a225 Maria was to carry the buin space shuttles as well as components of the energia rocket which was used to launch it in December 1988 the aircraft took to the skies for the first time becoming the largest plane in the world it was a truly massive aircraft with a length of 275 ft a wingspan of 290 ft and weighing over 280 tons it also came with six ZM KB progress larev d8t turbofan engines which also made it the most powerful aircraft at the time following the end of the Cold War in 1991 the a225 was under the control of the Ukrainian government by 2001 it had been modified and converted to a rather ginormous specialist cargo hauler which had an incredible maximum takeoff weight of up to 640 tons simply incomparable to any other Transport Aircraft on the planet and almost twice that of the C5 Galaxy and the Boeing 747 the a225 also had a respectable range of around 2,800 Mi at maximum payload and a speed of close to 500 mph in 2009 the a225 set the world record for airlifting the heaviest piece of equipment ever transported which was the 174 ton olom generator sta flown into Armenia but fast forward to February 2022 Russia invades Ukraine and destroys some of their military facilities and Equipment the Antonov a124 Maria isn't spared as it is destroyed at the hostel Airport Port the home base of Antonov Airlines the nose and tail fans are completely destroyed the fuselage is charred almost beyond recognition and half of the engines and the hydraulic systems are also destroyed it was a gruesome end to an aircraft which was once a source of great pride to the Ukrainian people and also helped transport massive amounts of medical supplies during the covid-19 pandemic but the Ukrainian government didn't accept this to be the end as president zalinsky almost immediately pledged to return a225 into the global Fleet in honor of its Service as well as the service of the Ukrainian pilots who had lost their lives due to the war but there was only one a225 in operation and it had been damaged Beyond repair not to mention the gargantuan size of the aircraft so what is the Ukrainian government plans to achieve this especially during a war most probably don't know this this but the USSR actually made an initial order for three a225 aircrafts although they did later downsize it to two regardless the work on the second 225 did commence but it only reached around 65% completion before the Soviet Union's collapse most of the structural work on the a225 such as the fuselage wings and landing gear had been completed but with nothing to really fight for the space shuttle project as well as the development of the aircraft was finally shut down in 1993 by the then Russian president Boris yelson Antonov did try to get the second aircraft going in 2006 but the plan was ultimately abandoned due to the extreme costs there were even rumors that China wanted to make an investment into completing the aircraft in 2016 but again nothing came of it and in 2020 antonov's CEO claimed that the aircraft had become economically unviable due to its unique nature the cost of completing the second a225 would be massive and its limited Niche means it may never be able to recoup those expenses throughout its lifespan but after the destruction of the first one by Russian forces the Ukrainian government has shown remarkable commitment to bringing the second one into service but it's still going to be a significantly expensive undertaking so how viable would the completion of the second 225b to examine the possibility of having a second a225 we'd have to weigh up the pros and the cons for one the aircraft is completed to a considerable extent and has been stored in excellent conditions plus most of the other parts could be sourced from the spares pool of the 225s little brother the a124 but this is basically where the pros end the construction facilities where the first a225 was built no longer exists as many of them became defunct following the fall of the Soviet Union also the designers Engineers Factory workers and almost everyone who worked on the aircraft are presumably retired so it's going to be difficult to assemble a team with the required expertise and experience to complete the project also the a225 was built in the80s so it's unlikely that it would comply with modern standards for things like noise and carbon emissions this means Antonov might have to Source a different means to power the aircraft and also change some components which could be contributing to the negative emissions changing components is sure to increase the costs by a huge margin and it could even end up cheaper to rebuild a new but similar aircraft from scratch but then again an a225 Maria with modern parts and increased efficiency could prove to be a really popular aircraft arguably even more than the original regardless of how the upgraded a225 could be perceived the probable biggest reason we haven't seen one before now is the extreme cost of completing it president zalinski previously said that it would cost around $550 million to resurrect the aircraft but it looks like his estimates were Way Off the Mark the Ukrainian State Defense company has estimated that the cost of restoring the second a225 would be closer to a whopping $3 billion also experts have estimated that the new a225 could take at least 5 years of work before it would be ready to fly so all of this begs the question is national pride really worth spending billions of dollars to complete an aircraft which has such a limited Niche by all ramifications $3 billion is a lot to build an aircraft to put this into context the Boeing 747 which the Soviets used as an inspiration for the a225 cost around $150 million to build plus there are more pressing issues for the Ukrainian government to deal with they are currently at war with Russia and a lot of important infrastructure has been destroyed the World Bank has estimated that it would cost upwards of $411 billion to rebuild Ukraine an amount as high as $3 billion is probably better spent on rebuilding these INF structures than a cargo aircraft which would operate probably once or twice a month but then again the Antonov a225 is such a huge source of Pride to the Ukrainian people the Maria was a symbol of Hope power and strength so you could probably understand why they do not see rebuilding the aircraft as an investment but rather a legacy project nevertheless and as we know money doesn't grow on trees and the Ukrainian government still needs to raise the money to bring the a 225 back to life and the best route to doing this at this point is probably through external investment there are rumors that billionaire investor and virgin group co-founder Richard Branson has shown interest in the project but reported interest is still Z doar in investment in March 2022 the Antonov CEO announced the launch of a fundraiser aimed at rebuilding the a225 Maria with plans to begin design work by November of that year Antonov workers have also been dismantling the wreckage of the original Maria in order to salvage any parts they could use for the restoration of the new one Antonov is also in talks with Aviation companies across the globe as well as potential customers for future cargo flights as it tries to accelerate the restoration process software Giants Microsoft are also doing their bit to assist Ukraine in the rebuilding of the a225 back in February 2023 they added an a225 flight simulator to their flight simulation video game the virtual replica features highly detailed 3D models of vital parts of the aircraft as well as avionic systems and accurate flight Dynamics and all proceeds from the $20 download are reportedly going towards rebuilding the a225 all of this is certainly a lot to handle for Antonov but it turns out that there was actually a possibility that the original a225 wouldn't have been in its current condition if not for some controversial decisions recent reports revealed that the Antonov a225 Maria could have and probably should have avoided destruction during Russia's Invasion criminal charges are said to have been placed against the former General director as well as several former Executives of the Antonov State Enterprise for their role in its destruction apparently the Maria was in proper technical condition on the eve of Russia's Invasion and an evacuation of the aircraft possibly to the airport in leip Germany could have been organized before Russian forces arrived in fact a crew had earlier prepared the aircraft to fly to safety outside Ukraine however the general director failed to give appropriate evacuation instructions and Executives reportedly even obstructed the military's efforts to secure the aircraft and this gave the invading Russian troops easy access to almost completely destroy the aircraft it didn't stop there however the destruction of the a225 cost the Ukrainian government over $22 million in losses but they could have recouped around 0.5% of that in Insurance compensation but again the general director failed to extend the insurance contract of the aircraft and they got nothing instead there are suspicions of sabotage from within the Anton of company and some arrests have been made but none of that would bring the a225 Maria back and the ultimate question to ask is if a return is really worth it the a225 Maria was a unique plane and an immense symbol for the people of Ukraine at this point in time it's probably best for the future of the Ukrainian economy if the completion of the second a225 Maria is put on hold at least until the country is safe people return to their homes and its economy is once again stable but sometimes these decisions are purely sentimental and it's possible that undoing Russia's damage to their beloved aircraft could lift the spirits of the Ukrainian people and allow them to dream but what do you think does Ukraine really need another a225 please let us know your thoughts in the comments below until next time take care

Channel: WingedWorld

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Keywords: WingedWorld, Aviation, Planes, Plane, Airplane, Airplanes, Boeing, Airbus, aviation, planes, flying, avgeek, aviationnews, flight, flight review, antonov, an 225, antonov an 225, mriya, antonov an 225 mriya, antonov comeback

Id: S3pqVQ0KRHo

Length: 13min 56sec (836 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 02 2024