Antonov An-225 News and discussion thread

Well I tried to leave this thread open, but it seems given the high emotions among some here, its not possible at the moment.
I'm going to lock this thread for the time being and will consider re-opening it in the future. Hopefully soon.
 
An-225 'Mriya' will fly once again – Ukraine rebuilds the largest cargo aircraft in the world

Nov 10, 2022
The magnificent plane An-225 will fly once again. Ukrainian State Enterprise 'Antonov' announced the completion of the second plane, which is already ready by 30%. The original plane was destroyed by the Russian air attack on Hostomel in the first days of the full-scale war. 'Mriya' means 'dream' in Ukrainian. And no foreign invasion can destroy the hope and dreams of the Ukrainian people, as was noted by the President of Ukraine. And the plane will be rebuilt.
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View: https://youtu.be/7pVTmCEpZ5k
 
Mixed feelings over this.
- Sounds like a vanity / nationalistic project
- but then again, Ukraine needs big symbols to reboost its morale in that very ugly war...
- Admittedly An-225 made some money back then as a niche aircraft, so not 100% vanity / white elephant.
- Still will cost a lot of money and resources, that could be invested elsewhere...
- There is also the matter of flipping the bird to the Russians, who still use An-124s in their air force.
 
jeffb said:
Who's paying for it? Ukraine was broke before the war, with the loans they're going to need to repay to the US they're going to be broke squared.
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It’s partly being funded apparently by selling 408 piece metal models of it.
 
“Currently, design works in this direction have begun. According to available expert estimates, currently there are about 30% of components that can be used for the second model of the aircraft. The cost of building the aircraft is estimated at least 500 million euros. However, it is too early to talk about the specific amount.

More detailed information will be disseminated after Ukraine’s victory in the war.”
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Flyaway said:
jeffb said:
Who's paying for it? Ukraine was broke before the war, with the loans they're going to need to repay to the US they're going to be broke squared.
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It’s partly being funded apparently by selling 408 piece metal models of it.
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You mean this?

https://metal-time.com/products/ukrainian-dream

Not really my kind of model... a lot of work to end up with something that's not terribly accurate. If I had the funds, I'd rather have something like one of those de Agostini/Hachette/Eaglemoss "part work" giant model kits. An An-225 in, say, 1/32 scale would be impressive.

As for how to fund the An-225, I would prefer the new production line be funded by post-war reparations. I'm sure a good chunk of the An-225 cost could be paid for by selling St. Petersburg to Finland.
 
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Ukraine handed suspicion notices on Friday to three former top managers of aircraft manufacturer Antonov for obstructing the country's military and allowing Russia to destroy the iconic giant "Mriya" cargo plane at the start of the full-scale war.

The Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU security service said the former officials prevented the Ukrainian National Guard from building fortifications at a key airport on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in January to February last year as the threat of Russia's full-scale invasion loomed.
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www.reuters.com

Ukraine detains officials over destruction of famous plane at start of war

Ukraine handed suspicion notices on Friday to three former top managers of aircraft manufacturer Antonov for obstructing the country's military and allowing Russia to destroy the iconic giant "Mriya" cargo plane at the start of the full-scale war.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
Not surprising, Ukraine needs to mobilize its industry to build a) that jet drone b) that ballistic missile and c) moar hundred thousands drones, if not millions of them.
 
On the Arte website, you can watch a documentary on An225 that combines old and new footage.
Here are the dubs and subs available. Multi languages is a mix between french/german and original footage language, there is also some forced french and german subs for some parts.

Screenshot 2025-07-12 at 22-08-04 Antonov - The World's[...].png
You can download it using some software like YT-Dlp or Jdownloader.
www.arte.tv

Antonov - The World's Largest Aircraft - Watch the full documentary | ARTE in English

The Antonov AN-225 Mriya, the world's largest cargo plane and the pride of Ukraine, was destroyed in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion in 2022. With exclusive images and never-before-seen film footage, test pilots and engineers of the aviatio giant...
www.arte.tv

It's also available on Youtube
French :
View: https://www.youtube.com/live/l6lOlFUeLZ0

German :
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV5SNhwJllw

English (subbed) :
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-v9UbrUXBg

PS: If someone know how to avoid media link detection, so that miniatures don't show.
 
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If I remember correctly, there was a second airframe which was meant to be used for spares.
If it wasn't dismantled, I'm sure a new Mriya could be produced from that and the salvaged elements.
 
Stargazer said:
If I remember correctly, there was a second airframe which was meant to be used for spares.
If it wasn't dismantled, I'm sure a new Mriya could be produced from that and the salvaged elements.
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The real question would be if that's economical, which is highly doubtful
 
Stargazer said:
If I remember correctly, there was a second airframe which was meant to be used for spares.
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There is a second partially complete airframe.

Stargazer said:
I'm sure a new Mriya could be produced from that and the salvaged elements.
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I do believe there are plans to finish assembly of it once the fighting has ended.

EmoBirb said:
The real question would be if that's economical, which is highly doubtful
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There was plenty of use for the An-225 for moving very heavy, outsize cargo that not even the An-124 could carry and given that the second airframe was largely complete when the USSR collapsed I have no doubt it will be completed.
 
NMaude said:
There was plenty of use for the An-225 for moving very heavy, outsize cargo that not even the An-124 could carry and given that the second airframe was largely complete when the USSR collapsed I have no doubt it will be completed.
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That may be true, but first that thing would need to be finished, that requires resources and material that aren't there, also incredible amount of work hours and qualified workers (so even more money). Then there is the awfully high maintenance cost for a super heavy, six engine airlifter.

Meaning that while there may be work for something doesn't mean it's economical. There wasn't an A380 freighter after all for example. And that's despite Airbus being a healthy company with the financial power required to pull such an undertaking off. While no such thing exists in Ukraine and won't exist for the next 10-20 years, if not longer.
 
EmoBirb said:
That may be true, but first that thing would need to be finished, that requires resources and material that aren't there, also incredible amount of work hours and qualified workers (so even more money). Then there is the awfully high maintenance cost for a super heavy, six engine airlifter.

Meaning that while there may be work for something doesn't mean it's economical. There wasn't an A380 freighter after all for example. And that's despite Airbus being a healthy company with the financial power required to pull such an undertaking off. While no such thing exists in Ukraine and won't exist for the next 10-20 years, if not longer.
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Much of the the An 225, like the An 124 components and sub assemblies, was Russian made.
Think USA.
Different states made components that were fitted into the final product within the US.
Same with the USSR, until its breakup.
The project is finished, which is kind of sad.
 
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EmoBirb said:
That may be true, but first that thing would need to be finished, that requires resources and material that aren't there, also incredible amount of work hours and qualified workers (so even more money). Then there is the awfully high maintenance cost for a super heavy, six engine airlifter.

Meaning that while there may be work for something doesn't mean it's economical. There wasn't an A380 freighter after all for example. And that's despite Airbus being a healthy company with the financial power required to pull such an undertaking off. While no such thing exists in Ukraine and won't exist for the next 10-20 years, if not longer.
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.
The AN-225 had a fuselage designed for large cargo, with a large empty hole down the middle.

The A380 has a horizontal deck splitting the fuselage into upper and lower sections - and this is an integral part of the fuselage's structure and cannot be removed.

Basically, to replace the AN-225's outsized cargo capacity an "A380 freighter" would need a completely new fuselage designed without the mid-fuselage floor - only the wings, tail, landing gear, and engines would be common with the rest of the A380s..
 
BlackBat242 said:
.
The AN-225 had a fuselage designed for large cargo, with a large empty hole down the middle.

The A380 has a horizontal deck splitting the fuselage into upper and lower sections - and this is an integral part of the fuselage's structure and cannot be removed.

Basically, to replace the AN-225's outsized cargo capacity an "A380 freighter" would need a completely new fuselage designed without the mid-fuselage floor - only the wings, tail, landing gear, and engines would be common with the rest of the A380s..
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And? The A380-800F was a serious proposal at a point in time and garnered a good bit of interest before being ultimately shelved. Point is, just because something could be done doesn't mean it's economical. If Airbus couldn't make the
A380-800F economical, despite superior infrastructure, superior resources and despite the option to spread cost across multiple airframes, then there is no chance in this universe that a new An-225 could be made or operated in an economical way. The finished An-225 was already not economical. And that wasn't an aircraft that wouldn't need to be cobbled together from an unfinished hull by a bunch of people not familiar with the aircraft and half of the components being not in production or only existing in Russia these days.

TL;DR:

> it's not economical to finish the existing hull
> it's a herculean task, being virtually impossible for Ukraine to pull off
> the aircraft wouldn't make any money even if finished
> most of the knowledge of its construction is lost or elsewhere
 
EmoBirb said:
And? The A380-800F was a serious proposal at a point in time and garnered a good bit of interest before being ultimately shelved.
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Not the same type of freighter. much like trying replace the C-5 with 747F.
 
Byeman said:
Not the same type of freighter. much like trying replace the C-5 with 747F.
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Can you cite where I talked about some sort of replacement? The point was that if even the most successful aerospace giant cannot make a super large aircraft work to move stuff from A to B, there is little chance a struggling niche manufacturer could.

But don't take my word for it, even the Antonov CEO said it would be uneconomical:

simpleflying.com

Completing The Second Antonov AN-225 Is 'Economically Unviable'

simpleflying.com simpleflying.com

www.kyivpost.com

Antonov CEO: Completing one more Mriya aircraft ‘economically untenable’

Ukraine's Antonov aircraft manufacturer is famous for its An-225 Mriya, the world's largest and heaviest cargo jet… - Apr. 27, 2020. By Illia Ponomarenko
www.kyivpost.com www.kyivpost.com

Case closed, it will never be built as a functional freighter. At best I could see it being turned into a static display in a couple decades, more so a monument than a functional machine.
 
EmoBirb said:
Can you cite where I talked about some sort of replacement? The point was that if even the most successful aerospace giant cannot make a super large aircraft work to move stuff from A to B,
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wrong. they are not the same class and there for the same do not apply. The discussion had to do with the airframe. A380 is an airliner. AN124 is cargo carrier for large objects. Neither Airbus or Antonov have to be the companies that do the conversions.
 
BlackBat242 said:
Basically, to replace the AN-225's outsized cargo capacity an "A380 freighter" would need a completely new fuselage designed without the mid-fuselage floor - only the wings, tail, landing gear, and engines would be common with the rest of the A380s..
Click to expand...

How common would the wing be if you change your design from a low wing to a high wing design?
In the end, it would be similar to the Embraer C-390 / E-190 situation I guess... i.e. two mostly different aircraft with common engines (unlike the Brazilian jets, which don't share engines).
 
eagle said:
How common would the wing be if you change your design from a low wing to a high wing design?
In the end, it would be similar to the Embraer C-390 / E-190 situation I guess... i.e. two mostly different aircraft with common engines (unlike the Brazilian jets, which don't share engines).
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The other good example would be the P-3/C-130 duo.

IIRC the wings are actually common between them.
 
EmoBirb said:
Can you cite where I talked about some sort of replacement? The point was that if even the most successful aerospace giant cannot make a super large aircraft work to move stuff from A to B, there is little chance a struggling niche manufacturer could.

But don't take my word for it, even the Antonov CEO said it would be uneconomical:

simpleflying.com

Completing The Second Antonov AN-225 Is 'Economically Unviable'

simpleflying.com simpleflying.com

www.kyivpost.com

Antonov CEO: Completing one more Mriya aircraft ‘economically untenable’

Ukraine's Antonov aircraft manufacturer is famous for its An-225 Mriya, the world's largest and heaviest cargo jet… - Apr. 27, 2020. By Illia Ponomarenko
www.kyivpost.com www.kyivpost.com

Case closed, it will never be built as a functional freighter. At best I could see it being turned into a static display in a couple decades, more so a monument than a functional machine.
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Disagree, it could be done as a National Prestige project, like Concorde.
 
EmoBirb said:
Case closed, it will never be built as a functional freighter. At best I could see it being turned into a static display in a couple decades, more so a monument than a functional machine.
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All your points are valid... BUT you missed out one essential factor: its symbolic value.
The An-225 was used as a humanitarian transport for decades, and it was destroyed out of spite by Russia.
Completing the second one, although a complicated and costly task, would be a strong symbol in the aftermath of the current war, and for that single purpose, I can easily see friendly nations contributing to that completion, both as a fraternal gesture toward Ukraine, and a message to the Kremlin (and for dramatic purposes, they'd have to rechristen it the Phoenix, I guess!)
 
I think both of you @Stargazer and @Scott Kenny don't realize that a demographically depleted (that population won't get back to pre-war levels for several decades to come) and economically broken Ukraine doesn't have the money and the people to throw away for vanity projects that don't have a tangible benefit to the country. While I'm aware that the people there currently in power are willing to make great sacrifices for PR, spending at least several billions (probably around 3-4 billions overall) on an aircraft that won't ever bring this cost back in just doesn't make any sense.

A better alternative would be if Antonov would be tasked to develop a new, modern, smaller airlifter with export potential, to bring jobs and money back to Ukraine. Even though foreign help, be it financial or personell oriented, may be necessary, it's an infinitely smarter use of the money.

The An-225 was developed for the Soviet Space program, to carry the Buran. Following that it had no purpose, and while keeping the finished product around as a symbol was already a losing business, it was at least only keeping an existing aircraft running. But the construction of the second example is all things considered just a vanity project which would be hard to justify to the Ukrainian people, as it would be bordering on money laundering, tbh.

It is how it is.
 
How to say... Regardless of one's political stance, the An-225 has no chance of reappearing from any point of view.
The same aid to help Ukraine recover its economy from the shadow of war is far more symbolic than building another AN225. Not to mention economic and technological factors... Now no country wants to create such an aircraft at a high cost, therefore, in a sense, the AN225 was doomed to its death after the collapse of the USSR.
Of course, I don't want to be too absolute, of course the AN-225 has a chance to fly in the sky again, but that chance seems too slim to me.
 
People really need to understand that Antonov is no longer really a functioning aircraft manufacturer at present.

It hasn't manufactured or delivered an aeroplane to any client since 2016...a decade ago.
The last aircraft it built was the prototype An-132, an updated An-32, constructed in 2016.
This project was cancelled a couple of years later.

Even prior to 2014, the overwhelming majority of Antonovs post USSR products were bought by Russia. This market has gone.

Antonovs assets were liquidated by the Ukrainian government in 2017 as part of its incorporation into Ukroboronprom.
It's major production facility was heavily damaged in 2022 during a Russian strike.

Then there is the workforce.
Antonovs workforce numbers are now a shadow of what was employed in 2014.
People retire, pass away, or move on to where the money is, or where their skills are needed.

As an aviation enthusiast, and an admirer of Antonovs big birds, these are facts, as painful as they are.
It's not only that it is extremely unlikely the 2nd An225 will be completed...it's also that Antonov itself probably won't survive.
Which is sad.
 

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