Boeing may use Antonov An-72 as platform for FCA bid

FlightInternational.com ^ | 20/01/2006 | STEPHEN TRIMBLE

[Paleo Conservative]

Boeing may introduce a Soviet-era military transport jet as a new option for the US military's need for a new fleet of small airlifters, the airframer told Flight International in Washington, DC yesterday.

The Antonov An-72, a 70-seat jet with over-wing-mounted engines (pictured below in Aeroflot livery), is one of the options Boeing is considering to enter the US Army's pending Future Cargo Aircraft (FCA) competition, says George Muellner, Boeing vice president for Air Force Systems.

A Boeing evaluation team has visited Antonov headquarters in Kiev, the Ukraine, and both companies remain in active discussions, says Muellner.

The FCA competition is on hold for two months to allow army officials time to discuss blending the programme with a US Air Force requirement for a new light cargo aircraft fleet. Muellner says Boeing's plans will not be decided until the army unveils the final requirements for FCA.

As another option, Boeing also is in discussions to Alenia to join the Global Military Aircraft Systems team that plans to offer the Alenia C-27J Spartan. Raytheon and EADS CASA North America also plan to compete, offering the CASA C-295, CN-235, or both, depending on the army's final requirements.

The An-72, if Boeing were to offer it, would be the only jet-powered aircraft in the competition.

STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON, DC

[Paleo Conservative]

© Antonov / KSAMC

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[Dashing Dasher]

Them Russians sure build ugly airplanes!

[kenth]

LOL. That's just what I was thinking. Typical utilitarian Russian design. Where's the sexy?

[beaver fever]

Practical but buttttttttttt ugly.

The only reason this aircraft flies is to avoid the embarrassment of everyone on the ground.

[HiTech RedNeck]

fugly

[HiTech RedNeck]

With the jet exhaust at overhead level, that sucka has got to be LOUD inside.

[null and void]

Awwww, they just didn't get its' good side...

[null and void]

OTOH, it's not apt to suck up junk from rough airfields.

[Paleo Conservative]

With the jet exhaust at overhead level, that sucka has got to be LOUD inside.

Don't the over wing engines help with short field performance?

[Dashing Dasher]

Best answer!

LOL!!!

I'm sure if we got to know her, she'd be good looking!

;-)

[nightdriver]

Boeing had a design quite similar to this a few years ago. It had two engines over the wings just like this.

I don't know if it ever made it to the prototype stage, however.

[hattend]

So Boeing is going to build a Soviet plane which is a clone of a Boeing cargo plane entry from the 70's? I present to you, the Boeing YC-14 on display at the Pima AZ Air Museum

[MarineBrat]

With the engines up that high and forward it looks like it'd be very good at avoiding ingesting FOD when landing or taking off from unimproved landing strips.

Sure is fugly though!

[A.A. Cunningham]

Another example of the Commies "borrowing" designs.

[null and void]

...and she has a great personality...

[beaver fever]

Not to mention the size of the engines.

But hey, you're Russian so deaf is good, you don't have to hear the BS all around you.

I love the instrument panels on MIGs. Zinc Chromate primer and no black finish.

Like cutting the cost of paint will make the aircraft more affordable.

[Habibi]

--Them Russians sure build ugly airplanes!--

I dunno', it looks pretty functional. Intakes are way up, so they don't ingest dirt or grunts. The engines are set in so far on the wings that they overlap the fuselage. They also appear to be high bypass. Beauty, to some folk, is based on the functionality of the machine.

Now, how well the aircraft holds together, that's another question. Things like the current state of their metallurgy (engine & airframe), would be nice to know. Stuff that's beneath the paint or cowling beats the aesthetic consideration once you're looking out of the cockpit window.

Good observation though, the Rusky naval architects, seem to have it over their aeronautical brethren.

[Dashing Dasher]

Good with pets.

[Paleo Conservative]

Here's a bigger version of your picture. The YC-14 was an experimental plane build for a competition for what became the C-17. McDonnel Douglas won with their YC-15 prototype. The YC-14 was a much bigger plane than the An-72.