Antonov aircraft manufacturer to replace Russian parts with those from Western companies
Ukraine's Antonov State Company plans to replace parts manufactured in Russia under the joint production of the world’s largest aircraft, An-225 Mriya, with those from Chinese company China Аirspace in the framework of a signed agreement. This was stated by the deputy head of the Department of Perspective Development of the Company, Andrey Khaustov.
“We will consider various options to replace the Russian components which were completed with the first ‘Mriya’ and to consider the most optimal option of filling the aircraft,” he said on-air with Radio Vesti.
According to him, the company is considering the possibility of using products from Ukrainian companies as well as Western ones. “If we do not find the necessary products in our domestic market, we will look to products from Western companies,” he said.
Components from companies in Canada, France, Great Britain, the United States and Ukraine will replace the Russian components as specified by the company.
On August 30, 2016 Antonov State Company signed an agreement with the Chinese company China Аirspace on the joint production of the largest aircraft, An-225 Mriya.
According to the document, the parties expressed their intention to form a long-term cooperation.
The An-225 transport jet is the biggest, heaviest and most powerful transport aircraft in the world, designed by Kyiv Design Bureau and named after Antonov. Its maximum takeoff weight is 640 tons. The first and only Mriya aircraft in the Soviet Union was constructed in eight industrial plants, half of which are in Russia, three in Ukraine and one in Uzbekistan. Currently, most of the components for the aircraft are produced in Russia.