Posted on 06/24/2010 6:42:14 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
may start receiving its first An-70 military transport planes as early as in 2012, the defense minister said on Thursday.
"We hope to start receiving the tested aircraft by 2012. We need this plane and the Russian Defense Ministry plans to buy it," Anatoly Serdyukov said during his visit to the Black Sea Fleet's base in Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
The An-70 is a medium-range turboprop military transport plane developed by Ukraine's Antonov design bureau. The Antonov company first tested a flying prototype of the An-70 in 1994, but a lack of Ukrainian state funds, and political disputes between Moscow and Kiev have prevented large-scale production of the aircraft. The recent thaw in Russian-Ukrainian relations saw Moscow renew long-stalled funding to Ukraine for eventual joint production of the plane.
There are up to 300 transport aircraft in service with the Russian Air Force, including An-12 Cub, Il-76MD and An-124 Condor transport aircraft.
The An-70 is intended to replace Russia's An-12 military transport aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.rian.ru ...
Very aggressive multi-bladed props beyond what we are use to seeing. Suspect this plane has decent operational specs.
Wonderin’ how it compares to a C-130
More than twice the plane 56,000HP 145tonMTO 400+Knotcruise
Herk J 18,000HP 70tonMTO 300-Knotcruise
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.