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AN-70

The An-70 belongs to a new class of short takeoff and landing tactical military transports. The An-70 is capable of carrying practically any item from military armament and equipment nomenclature with a total weight of up to 47 t. The aircraft is capable of delivering 20-35 t of cargo over the range of 5,000-6,600 km at cruising speed of 750 km/h, air dropping of personnel and vehicles including single cargoes of up to 20 t from both high and low altitudes, delivery of 300 soldiers and evacuation of 206 wounded and sick.

Depending upon the type of operation and takeoff weight, the An-70 can be operated on both average-strength hard-surface runways and unpaved 700-900 m strips with low surface strength. In case of short takeoff and landing on 700 m unpaved runways, the An-70 is capable of carrying 20-30 t of cargo over the range of 1,200-3,000 km.

Four D-27 engines with counter-rotating SV-27 propfans ensure high cruising speed and 20-30% fuel saving in comparison with modern airplanes with turbojet engines. The integrated digital complex of onboard equipment provides operation of the aircraft in all latitudes, all and around-the-clock, in VFR and adverse weather conditions, flights over unmarked terrain, protection against antiaircraft means, formation flying, takeoff and landing on unequipped unpaved airfields. Use of equipment with multiplex channels of data exchange makes it possible to easily modify and adapt the onboard avionics structure to suit any version. Onboard aerial delivery system ensures autonomous loading/unloading of a wide variety of cargoes and their air dropping. The onboard loading equipment comprises four overhead rail electric motor hoists with total cargo lifting capacity of 12 t, two onboard electric winches each with a 1.5-ton tractive force. At customer option, the aircraft may be equipped with an easily removable upper deck or roller conveyer for container handling automation. Onboard monitoring and diagnostic means make possible the autonomous operation of the An-70 aircraft on poorly equipped airfields without use of any special ground facilities. The aircraft maintenance is based on the "on-condition" strategy. High technical and operational potential of the An-70 aircraft allows to create on its basis an entire range of versions and modifications for military and civil use: AEW aircraft, flying command post, patrol aircraft, tanker and a family of the civil-aviation An-70T transports.

An international consortium named the Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) was established in 1996 by a number of entities. Among those, besides ANTONOV ASTC, were the aircraft series production factories, the aircraft engine and equipment designers, some business corporations and governmental representatives. The MTA consortium arranges and performs all joint research and development efforts, manufacturing, economical and foreign trade activities; it provides for a long-term cooperation and linkage of the financial, material and other resources in order to solve the problems of the An-70 certification, production, sale, leasing, and after-sale support.

Presently, the An-70 flight and certification tests are conducted to show the aircraft compliance with both the Air Force requirements and the civil AP-25 (FAR-25, JAR-25) airworthiness regulations.