Antonov Company has completed the assembly of the AN-178 fuselage template for delivery under the contract between the Spetstechnoexport Company and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Peru.
On August 21, the aircraft (serial number 006) was introduced to the Ukrainian media by Oleksandr Los, president of the Antonov Company. He spoke about the results achieved in the construction of the AN-178 and expressed thanks to Antonov's team for these highly qualified and altruistic works.
According to Los, the term of execution of the contract with Peru is 2021. All the works to modernize the aircraft and new equipment assemblies are carried out according to the approved schedule. The Antonov company has a production unit and qualified employees for the execution of these works within the fixed terms and under conditions of adequate fulfilment of the obligations by the contractors regarding payment.
The Antonov Company completed the design work to replace items from Russian-made suppliers with Ukrainian and Western analogues, and issued the design documentation at its own expense.
To date, five serial AN-178s have been produced. In Ukraine, the aircraft will be operated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Negotiations for the delivery of the planes to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence are ongoing.
The medium transport aircraft AN-178 was created based on Antonov's extensive experience in the development of transport aircraft in combination with the most innovative technologies. The AN-178, which made its maiden flight on May 7, 2015, is expected to replace the previous generation AN-12 vehicles on the market.
The AN-178's fuselage and on-board equipment are 50-60% unified with the AN-148 and AN-158 aircraft. The D-436-148FM jet engines installed on the AN-178 are the further development of the engine used on the AN-148 and AN-158. The AN-178, with cargo port and ramp at the tail, is intended for the delivery of personnel, armament and light military vehicles, for the transport of material goods, mail and other bulk cargo, containerized and palletized cargo. The maximum payload is 18 tons. In emergency situations, the AN-178 is capable of evacuating civilians from disaster areas, victims on standard stretchers and launching paratrooper rescue teams.
