HISTORY
First serial aircraft and
expansion
In 1957, the bureau
successfully introduced the
An-10/An-12
family of mid-range
turboprop airplanes into
mass production (thousands
of aircraft were
manufactured). The model
have been seeing heavy
combat and civil use around
the globe to the present
day, most notably in the
Vietnam War, Soviet war in
Afghanistan and the
Chernobyl disaster relief
megaoperation.
In
1959, the bureau began
construction of the separate
Flight Testing and
Improvement Base in suburban
Hostomel (now the Antonov
Airport).
In
1965, the Antonov An-22
heavy military transport
enters serial production,
supplementing the An-12 in
major military and
humanitarian airlifts of the
Soviet Union. The model
became the first Soviet
wide-body aircraft and
remains the world's largest
turboprop-powered aircraft
to date. Antonov designed
and presented a
nuclear-powered version of
the An-22 which, however,
never entered flight testing
phase.
In
1966, after major expansion
in the Sviatoshyn
neighborhood of the city,
the company was renamed to
another disguise name "Kiev
Mechanical Plant". Two
independent aircraft
production and repair
facilities, under
engineering supervision of
the Antonov Bureau, also
appeared in Kiev during this
period.
Prominence and Antonov's
retirement
In 1970s and early 1980s,
the company established
itself as USSR's main
designer of military
transport aircraft with
dozens of new modifications
in development and
production. After Oleg
Antonov's death in 1984, the
company is officially
renamed as the
Research and Design Bureau
named after O.K. Antonov
(Russian:
Опытно-конструкторское бюро
имени О.К. Антонова)
while continuing the use of
"Kiev Mechanical Plant"
alias for some purposes.
Late Soviet-era: superlarge
projects and first
commercialization
In
late 1980s, the Antonov
Bureau achieved global
prominence after
introduction of its extra
large airplanes. The An-124
"Ruslan" (1982) became
Soviet Union's
serial-produced strategic
airlifter. The Bureau
enlarged the "Ruslan" design
even more for the Soviet
space shuttle programme
logistics, creating the
An-225 "Mriya" in 1989.
"Mriya" has since been the
world's largest and heaviest
airplane.
End
of the Cold War and
perestroyka allowed the
Antonov's first step to
commercialization and
foreign expansion. In 1989,
the Antonov Airlines
subsidiary was created for
its own aircraft maintenance
and cargo projects.
Expansion to free market
Since independence, Antonov
is busy with certifying and
marketing of its models
(both Soviet-era and
newly-developed) to free
commercial airplanes'
markets. New models
introduced to serial
production and delivered to
customers include the
Antonov An-140, Antonov
An-148 and Antonov An-158
regional airliners.
Production facilities'
consolidation
During the Soviet period,
not all Antonov-designed
aircraft were manufactured
by the company itself. This
was a result of Soviet
industrial strategy that
split military production
between different regions of
the USSR to minimize
potential war loss risks. As
a result, Antonov airplanes
are often assembled by the
specialist contract
manufacturers.
In 2009, the
once-independent "Aviant"
airplane-assembling plant in
Kyiv became part of the
Antonov State Company,
facilitating a full serial
manufacturing cycle of the
company. However, the old
tradition of
co-manufacturing with
contractors is continued,
both with Soviet-time
partners and with new
licensees like Iran's HESA.
Source:
Wikipedia
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