The An-124 Ruslan, designed by the Antonov ASTC, based in Kiev, Ukraine, is a very large cargo aircraft. It is manufactured by Aviant State Aviation Plant, Kiev, and Aviastar, Ulyanovsk, Russia.
The aircraft, which has the Nato reporting name Condor, is designed for long-range delivery and air dropping of heavy and large size cargo, including machines, equipment and troops. The An-124 entered service in January 1986 and over 60 aircraft have been built. The Russian Army operates 28 An-124 aircraft.
The unique transport capabilities and the high performance of the aircraft have been proven in operation.
20 An-124-100 of Antonov Airlines, Volga-Dniepr, Poliot and other airlines transport different cargoes all over the world; for example: 90t hydraulic turbines, large Liebherr autocranes, American Euclid dump trucks, the fuselage of Tu-204 passenger transporter, a 109t railway locomotive, and a sea yacht more than 25m long.
"The An-124 has the Nato reporting name Condor."Volga-Dniepr Airlines of Russia has ten An-124 aircraft. Polet Airlines of Russia operate eight An-124 aircraft.
Aviant State Aviation Plant in Kiev completed an An-124-100 from parts in stock which was sold to the United Arab Emirates in 2004.
Seven An-124-100 aircraft were operated by Antonov Airlines, based at London Stansted Airport, in partnership with Air Foyle HeavyLift. Antonov Airlines did not renew the contract for this partnership in June 2006 and has signed an agreement with Volga-Dniepr Airlines and Aviastar for the modernisation and construction of the An-124.
In September 2004, the governments of Russia and the Ukraine announced that series production of the An-124 would be restarted. Up to 80 An-124-100M upgraded aircraft are to be jointly manufactured by Aviastar and Aviant between 2007 and 2020.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines placed an order for five An-124-100M in August 2005. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2010. Supplemental type certification was received for the aircraft in June 2007, allowing operations with 402t maximum take-off weight and 150t maximum payload. The An-124-100M's flight range was increased to 4,000km and the crew reduced to three.
An-124 design
The aircraft fuselage has a double-deck layout. The cockpit, the relief crew compartment and the troop cabin with 88 seats are on the upper deck. The lower deck is the cargo hold. The flight deck has crew stations arranged in pairs for six crew: the pilot and co-pilot, two flight engineers, the navigator, and the communications officer. The loadmaster's station is located in the lobby deck.
"Up to 80
An-124-100M upgraded aircraft are to be manufactured between 2006 and 2020."The An-124 aircraft is fitted with a relatively thick (12%
swept-back super-critical wing to give high aerodynamic efficiency and, consequently, a long flight range.
The construction includes extruded skin panels on the wing, extruded plates for the centre-section wing panels and monolithic wafer plates for the fuselage panels. The aircraft structural members are made of composites that make up 1,500m² of the surface area.
Multi-leg landing gear and loading equipment ensure self-sufficient operation of the aircraft on prepared concrete runways and on unpaved strips.
The landing gear is self-orienting and incorporates a kneeling mechanism, which allows an adjustable fuselage clearance to assist the loading and unloading of self-propelled equipment.
Cargo systems
The onboard system of cargo handling equipment makes it possible to load and unload the aircraft without the help of ground facilities. The para-dropping and cargo handling equipment comprises two travelling cranes, two winches, rollgang and tiedown equipment. The aircraft is often compared to the US Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The An-124 has a transportation capability 25% higher than that of the C-5A and 10% higher than the C-5B.
The two cargo hatches are a distinctive structural feature. The fuselage nose can be hinged upward to open the front cargo hatch and there is a cargo hatch in the rear fuselage.
Avionics
All systems are quadruple redundant. The onboard equipment provides the capability to execute airlift and para-drop missions by day and at night, in visual flight rules and instrument flight rules (VFR and IFR) weather conditions. There are 34 computers functioning aboard the aircraft, combined into four main systems: navigation, automatic piloting, remote control and monitoring.
The integrated flight control and aiming-navigation system comprises an autonomous navigation system, altitude and air-speed indicating system, combat formation flight control equipment, short-range radio navigation and landing system, global positioning system, automatic radio compass, ground surveillance radar, forward-looking weather radar, optical and TV sight, and IFF equipment.
"Multi-leg landing gear and loading equipment ensure self-sufficient operation."An-124-210 and An-124-100M
Antonov, Aviastar and Air Foyle of the UK have jointly submitted a proposal to the UK MoD for leasing of new versions, the An-124-210 and An-124-100M. An-124-210 will be equipped with a Rolls-Royce RB211-52H-T engine; An-124-100M with series 3 D-18 engines, produced by Progress Design Bureau in Zaporozhe.
These engines allow an increase in service range of 10% and reduced take-off distance.
The An-124-210 is a 120ft-long cargo freighter. The floor width and height of aircraft is 21ft and 14.4ft respectively, with 10.5ft below the crane.
The An-124-100M aircraft has the capacity to travel 4,500km at a height of up to 10,000m carrying a maximum load of 120t. The aircraft is 36m long and 4.4m high. It can operate under 60°C below zero and 45°C above zero.
Both versions will be equipped with digital instrumentation and displays from Honeywell of the USA and Aviapribor of Russia, enabling the crew size to be reduced from six to four. Also fitted are a traffic alert collision avoidance system (TCAS 2000), ground proximity warning system and satellite communications system
