The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-124 «Руслан») (NATO reporting name: Condor) is a strategic airlift jet aircraft. It was designed by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union. The An-124 is the world's largest serially manufactured cargo airplane and world's second largest operating cargo aircraft, behind the one-off Antonov An-225 (an enlarged variant of the An-124) .

During development it was known as Izdeliye 400 in house, and An-40 in the West. First flown in 1982, civil certification was issued on 30 December 1992. Over 40 are in service (26 civilian models with airlines and 10 firm orders as of August 2006) and 20 were in commercial use in 1998 in Ukraine, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.

Development

During the 1970s, the VTA (Military Transport Aviation) arm of the Soviet Air Force had a shortfall in strategic heavy airlift capacity. Its largest planes consisted of about 50 Antonov An-22 turboprops, which were used heavily for tactical roles. A classified 1975 CIA analysis concluded that the USSR did "...not match the US in ability to provide long-range heavy lift support."

The An-124 was manufactured in parallel by two plants: the Russian company Aviastar-SP (ex. Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex) and by the Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT, in Ukraine. Design work started in 1971 and construction of facilities began in 1973. Manufacturing on the first airframe began in 1979. Ultimately this project brought together over 100 factories contracted to produce systems and parts.

The first flight took place in December 1982 and the first exposure to the West followed in 1985 at the Paris Air Show. Series production ceased with the breakup of the Soviet Union. The last five unfinished airframes left from the Soviet times were completed in 2001 (1), 2002 (1), and 2004 (3).

Since the type was initially designed only for occasional military use, original An-124s were built with a projected service life of 7,500 flight hours with possibility for extension. However many airframes have flown more than 15,000 flight hours. In response to complaints by commercial users, the An-124-100 version has been built since 2000 with an improved service life of 24,000 hours. Older airframes are being upgraded to this standard. Additional retrofiting is being performed to extend its service life to 40,000 flight hours. The Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT offers upgrades to the Аn-124-100М-150 version.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to resume the production in the third quarter of 2008. In May 2008 a new variant—the An-124-150—was announced; it featured several improvements, including a maximum lift capacity of 150 tonnes. However, in May 2009, Antonov's partner, United Aircraft Corporation announced it did not plan production of An-124s in the period 2009–2012.  In late 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered production of the aircraft resumed. It is expected that Russia will purchase 20 new aircraft.

Operational history

Germany led the recent effort to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements. Two aircraft are leased from SALIS GmbH as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available. Under NATO SALIS programme NAMSA is chartering six An-124-100 transport aircraft. According to the contract An-124-100s of Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr are used within the limits of NATO SALIS programme to transport cargo by requests of 18 countries: Belgium, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Sweden. Two An-124-100s are constantly based on full-time charter in the Leipzig/Halle airport, but the contract specifies that if necessary, two more aircraft will be provided on six days notice and another two on nine days notice. The contract was valid until 31 December 2010.  The aircraft proved extremely useful for NATO especially with ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr has contracts with Boeing to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant. The An-124 is used for airlifting (in fully assembled form) the massive General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used on the Boeing 777 airliner.  Rolls-Royce also contracts the Antonov An-124 to transport the Trent family engines to and from their test facilities worldwide.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) contracts the An-124 to transport the Atlas V launch vehicle from its facilities in Decatur, Alabama to Cape Canaveral. ULA also uses the An-124 to transport the Atlas V launch vehicle and Centaur upper stage from their manufacturing facility in Denver, Colorado to Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. Two flights are required to transfer each launch vehicle (one for the Atlas V main booster stage and another for the Centaur upper stage). It is also contracted by Space Systems Loral to transport satellites from Palo Alto, CA to the Arianespace spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Airbus Transport International, a subsidiary of Airbus, has selected another Russian cargo company, Polet Airlines as "designated carrier" to the company. Polet expects its three An-124-100s will transport astronautic equipment manufactured by EADS, which is Airbus' parent company, and components of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is the only A380 engine that can be transported whole in a Boeing 747F; the competing Engine Alliance GP7200 engine needs a larger aircraft, like the An-124, for shipping in one piece.

As of 2013 the AN-124 has visited 768 airports in over 100 countries. 

Variants

An-124 Ruslan

Strategic heavy airlift transport aircraft

An-124-100

Commercial transport aircraft

An-124-100M-150

Commercial transport version fitted with Western avionics

An-124-102

Commercial transport version with an EFIS flight deck

An-124-130

Proposed version

An-124-135

Variant with one seat in the rear and the rest of the cargo area (approx. 1,800 square feet) dedicated to freight

An-124-150

Planned new variant with several new features

An-124-200

Proposed version with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, each rated at 59,200 lbf (263 kN)

An-124-210

Joint proposal with Air Foyle to meet UK's Short Term Strategic Airlifter (STSA) requirement, with Rolls-Royce RB211-524H-T engines, each rated 60,600 lbf (264 kN) and Honeywell avionics—STSA competition abandoned in August 1999, reinstated, and won by the Boeing C-17A.

An-124-300

variant ordered by the Russian Air Force with new avionics, a new improved braking system and a payload of 150 tons.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 4-6 (pilot, copilot, navigator,senior flight engineer (+flight engineer, radioman) + 2 loadmasters
• Capacity: 88 passengers or the hold can take an additional 350 on a palletised seating system
• Payload: 150,000 kg (330,000 lb)
• Length: 68.96 m (226 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 73.3 m (240 ft 5 in)
• Height: 20.78 m (68 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 628 m² (6,760 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 175,000 kg (385,000 lb)
• Loaded weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
• Useful load: 230,000 kg (508,000 lb)
• Max. takeoff weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 4 × Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 865 km/h (467 kn (537 mph))
• Cruise speed: 800–850 km/h (430 kn (490 mph))
• Range: 5,400 km (2,900 nm, 3,360 mi (5,410 km))
• Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
• Wing loading: 365 kg/m² (74.7 lb/sq ft)
• Thrust/weight: 0.23
• Take-off run distance (maximum take-off weight): 2,800 m (9,200 ft)
• Landing roll distance at maximum landing weight: 900 m (3,000 ft)
• Required runway length: 3,000 m (9,800 ft)

Source: Wikipedia