AN-188

On 03 May 2018, Ukrovoronprom, the Ukrainian defense company, announced that Ukraine and Turkey had agreed to jointly implement the production of the An-188 military transport aircraft. The agreement was reached at the Eurasia-2018 Airshow held from April 25 to 29 in Anatalya, southern Turkey. Ukrainian state-owned aircraft manufacturer Antonov said the An-188 transport plane will use parts manufactured by Western countries and meet NATO standards. With a capacity of up to 50 tons, according to the statement, the aircraft can carry all types of construction equipment, helicopters, up to 300 troops, and humanitarian cargo. The An-188 can be operated on unpaved airfields and landed on short runways of 600m in length.

Ukraine cannot build the D-27 propfan, used on the An-70, without Russian components. The D-27 fan is produced by Russian firm Aerosila. Antonov is developing a jet-engined version of the An-70 strategic transport aircraft, the An-188, company officials announced on 15 June 2015 at the Paris Air Show. This is increasingly a crowded market. The An-188 would be competing against the Airbus A400M and the Kawasaki C-2, with Airbus and its national partners working hard to secure more foreign buyers.

Dmytro Kiva, Antonov's president and general designer, said that following the acceptance of the turboprop powered An-70 into Ukrainian service in January 2015, "this aircraft has become the basis of the new An-188 with jets." The company is positioning the An-188 in a similar niche to the An-70 or the Airbus A400M, with its maximum take-off weight of 140 tonnes and maximum payload of 40 tonnes, sitting in between that of the Lockheed Martin C-130 (79/20 tonnes) and the Boeing C-17 (255/75 tonnes).

Kiva said that the "aircraft [will be] able to operate from unpaved airfields [and] short airfields" of 915 m in length. As the aircraft used turbofan engines it "would provide "high economic efficiency and small fuel consumption", he added. Antonov specifications state the aircraft will have a fuel consumption of 4,600 kg per flight hour. With the Ukrainian firm eager to move away from its previous relations with Russia, and to increase the export potential of the aircraft, the An-188 is intended to be fitted with "western avionics and equipment, including engines".

The An-188 will be powered by four turbofan engines and although Kiva mentioned possibly using a western engine on the An-188, current plans are to use a Ukrainian engine from Motor Sich. Kiva said, "As far as the An-188 [is concerned], we are at the negotiation stage and in particular we are considering the possibility to equip it with Ukrainian engines made in Zaporizhia", that is, Motor Sich. He added that "there are two possible variants of engine, the D-436-FM, the new one, or I-28". It is unclear what engine he referred to as the I-28, but the D-436-FM is a new version of the Ivchenko-Progress D-436 turbofan that powers the An-158 civil airliner. According to Kiva this new version "will be ready next year".

The Kiev-based Antonov presented the Antonov-188 project at the annual aerospace show at Le Bourget. Earlier reports said it would not have any component elements manufactured in Russia and would be fitted out with the engines of Western make.

Russia and Ukraine began joint efforts on the Antonov-70 project in 2010, with Moscow including the propfan in its state programme for armaments but media reports said the project ran into serious complications in the wake of developments in Ukraine.

Antonov decided to create a new aircraft on the basis of Antonov-70. The modified version will hopefully occupy a niche between the Herculs and the Globemaster III models. The corporation says the new planes will have a capability to take off from grass fields, to transport all types of defense and civilian technologies, including helicopters, and to take up to 300 passengers aboard.

Antonov An-188 multi-purpose military transport aircraft is a modification of An-70 medium-range transport aircraft developed by Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing company Antonov. The An-188 aircraft development programme was unveiled at the 51st Paris Air Show held in Le Bourget, Paris, France, in June 2015. Turkish Undersecretary for Defense Industries (SMM) and Ukrainian state-run defence company entered a co-operative agreement to jointly produce the An-188 aircraft, during the Eurasia Airshow held in Turkey in April 2018. A scale model of the aircraft was also displayed at the air show.

At the air show in Le Bourget, Antonov officially presented the project of the promising An-188 transport aircraft. The aircraft is a continuation of the An-70 aircraft, equipped instead of four D-27 propeller-driven engines with four dual-circuit turbojet engines, which are considered engines of the Motor Sich company. It is also noted that all the details of the aircraft will be Ukrainian and Western production. An-188 should have a maximum take-off weight of 140 tons and a maximum mass of transported cargo of 40 tons.

Ukraine has no right to position the project of the An-188 transport aircraft as its own, since it is a continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian An-70, only with other engines. This was stated by the head of the Rosoboronexport delegation at the Le Bourget air show, Sergei Kornev, RIA Novosti reported 18 June 2015. "From a legal point of view, Russia has invested enough money and claims about 50% of intellectual property (in the An-70 project) ... This is a serious contradiction. By and large, they have no right to do this," Kornev said.

The aircraft will be modified in compliance with NATO standards and will be installed with new components and equipment outsourced by foreign companies. It is intended primarily for the Ukrainian Air Force. The aircraft will be used for transportation of personnel, cargo and all kinds of military equipment. The aircraft can airdrop up to 21t of cargo and carry heavy payloads weighing up to 35t. The An-188 military transport aircraft has a length of 41m, height of 16m and wingspan of 44m. It will have a maximum take-off weight of 140t and maximum cargo carrying capacity of 50t.

The airlifter design uses a high-wing arrangement with four engines. It will be fitted with a strengthened landing gear assembly consisting of a twin-wheeled nose gear and a multi-wheeled main gear underneath the fuselage. Featuring short take-off and landing (STOL) capability, the jet-powered aircraft will be able to perform take-off and landing on different airfields, including unpaved runways and short runways with a length of 915m.

The cargo cabin of the aircraft will be 19.1m-long, 4m-wide and 4.1m-high. With a volume of 400m³, the spacious cargo cabin will allow for the carriage of a variety of cargo, including military equipment, Puma / Lynx helicopters, infantry fighting vehicles, construction equipment, pallets, containers, and humanitarian cargo.

The aircraft can accommodate up to 300 soldiers or 206 wounded troops over two decks when deployed in medical evacuation operation. More than 130 fully equipped paratroops can be carried aboard the aircraft in troop transport configuration.

The An-188 military transport aircraft will have advanced glass cockpit that seats up to three crew members, including a pilot, a co-pilot and a flight engineer. The cockpit will feature modern head-up displays, and latest navigation and communication equipment. The aircraft will be outfitted with modern and reliable avionics to support safe operation.

The An-188 military transport aircraft will be equipped with four modern, cost-effective D-436-148FM turbofan engines, rated at 8,800kgf each. Manufactured by JSC Motor Sich Public, the engines will deliver high speed and increased flight range with less fuel consumption. The engine is 3.7m-long, 1.78m-wide and 1.93m-high, and has a dry weight of 1,450kg.

Designed to power short-haul passenger aircraft with passenger capacity of up to 100 people. Installed on the An-148 and the An-158 regional passenger aircraft. It meets the effective environmental requirements of ICAO standards. In commercial production since 2005.

The aircraft will also be compatible with AI-28 new-generation engines or CFM International LEAP high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines. The LEAP® engine was developed by Safran Aircraft Engines and GE through their joint company, CFM International, to power the next generation of single-aisle commercial jets. Combining the best technologies from the two partners, LEAP offers operators exceptional performance while retaining the legendary reliability of the CFM56®. These capabilities have already made the engine a best seller, even before it has entered revenue service.

The airlifter will have a speed of approximately 800km/h and a cruising altitude of approximately 12,000m. It will be able to travel to distances up to 7,700km based on the engine type. The fuel consumption of the plane is estimated to be 4,600kg per flight hour.