The aircraft is being derived from the 99-seat An-158 regional airliner and is to be fitted with the commonised F1 fuselage nose section with the identical flight deck, wing panels, empennage and most of the onboard systems. At the same time, the fuselage diameter has grown from 3.35 m to 3.9 m, which has resulted in the cargo cabin cross section increase to 2.75x2.75 m.

The future production-standard aircraft will have a longer wing span while retaining the organic wing panels of the An-158. Its maximal takeoff weight is estimated at 56 t. The aircraft needs turbofan engines with a thrust of about 9,500 kgf to have the characteristics required. The said engine may be the new-generation in-development Ivchenko-Progress AI-28 turbofan. Ivchenko-Progress General Designer Igor Kravchenko told Take-off that the engine was expected to be ready for mounting on the wing by around 2020; therefore, the decision was taken so far to fit the An-178 prototype with less powerful D-436-148FM engines. The D-436-148FM is a derivative of the production-standard D-436-148 with an upgraded fan, which boosted the takeoff thrust to 7,800 kgf and at emergency power rating to 8,580 kgf. A D-436-148FM mock-up was unveiled at the MFD 2014 International Engine Industry Forum in Moscow in April this year. According to Igor Kravchenko, the final D-436-148FM variant is to be ready by May 2015 and fit for certification in 2016.

According to Antonov, the range of the D-436-148FM-powered An-178 with the 18-tonne maximum payload will account for 1,000 km, with the 15-tonne payload for 2,000 km and with 10 t for 4,000 km. Its maximum cruising speed and service ceiling are set at 825 km/h and 12,200 m respectively. The maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft powered by the Phase I powerplant is estimated at 50-51 t. The plane will be able to haul various kinds of cargo, including standard-issue containers and up to 99 infantrymen in full battle rattle, up to 80 paratroops or up to 40 casualties on litters and 30 sitting casualties.

Antonov has been paying for the An-178's development out of pocket since 2009, with no firm orders landed yet. Antonov President / General Designer Dmitry Kiva said at the An-178 fuselage roll-out ceremony: "The An-178 is our future. We are developing the aircraft, investing in it a wealth of experience of the elder generation of Antonov personnel, coupled with the latest technologies that are being successfully learnt and introduced by our young personnel. The programme is being funded with the money earned by the company. We are certain the An-178 will be on a par with the transport aircraft of the world and replace the famous An-12 airlifter, of which 1,400 have been made, and the C-160 (over 200).

The near future will show whether Antonov will manage to bring the An-178 programme to the flight test stage or not, given the difficult situation Ukraine is now. The situation is aggravated by continuous attempts by the de-jure illegitimate executive branch at ousting the company's leader. For instance, Sergei Merenkov, the former An-140 programme manager, tried to assume control of the company on 1 August 2014, citing an order of the deputy minister of the Ministry of Industrial Policy that had been disbanded several months before that. Nevertheless, Dmitry Kiva remains the de-facto leader of Antonov.

Antonov is sticking it out despite the mess it is in and the political crisis in the country. For instance, this summer, it completed, tested and delivered another production-standard An-158 (c/n 201-05, reg. CU-T1715) - the second one made this year and the fifth one in total. The aircraft was delivered to Cubana de Aviacion. It had first flown in Kiev on 14 July 2014 and headed for Cuba as soon as 8 August. Antonov intends to deliver another An-158 to Cuba before year-end.

By the way, Antonov is launching the development of some new and upgraded airlifters. One of them is an advanced An-132 light transport aircraft with the 9.2-tonne carrying capacity, designed to succeed to the An-32 that is still in full-rate production. The An-132 will be powered by the Canadian-made PW150 turboprops and furnished with an up-to-date avionics suite from leading Western manufacturers. Plans provide for fitting the An-132 with a modified wing and a larger-diameter fuselage further down the line, which will turn it into an utterly new aircraft. While hauling the same cargo the An-32 hauls, the An-132 will feature the range twice as longer as that of its predecessor.

In addition, Dmitry Kiva announced early in October 2014 the development of an An-70 derivative - the An-188 upgraded medium short takeoff and landing airlifter with a lifting capacity of 40 t feauturing Ukrainian and Western avionics and aircraft systems. According to the Antonov president, the An-188 is expected to fill in the niche between the US-made C-130J-30 medium airlifter and C-17A heavylifter and will feature a number of important advantages over its rival, the European Airbus Military A400M. For instance, hauling 20-tonne cargo and operating from 915-m-long airfields, the An-188 will surpass the A400M in range by 40% and be able to carry the A400M's maximum payload (37 t) at a distance measuring 11% more than that the A400M is capable of.

(Photo: Vasily Koba)