Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov produces first plane without Russian parts
The Ukrainian state-owned aircraft manufacturer Antonov produced the first transport aircraft An-178 without Russian components, said Antonov’s President Alexander Moose in an interview with Ukrinform.
"This is the first plane without a single Russian part. We have been accused of not producing planes for several years. But with the beginning of the Russian military aggression in 2014, we lost not only the export market, but also the supply market for important components. It took some time to find import substitution and search for new suppliers," Moose said.
According to him, on this aircraft about two-thirds of the components are produced by U.S. corporations, another third - domestic. "We have carried out the project work on the replacement of Russian components at our own expense. In fact, extensive international cooperation was anticipated in 2010-2011 when the An-178 project was developed. In 2015-2016, we simply continued this systematic work," said Antonov’s President.
The An-178 is a Ukrainian short-haul transport aircraft with turbojet engines which is produced by The Kyiv Antonov GP on the basis of passenger An-158 (An-148-200).
On June 9, the Ukrainian state-owned defense holding Ukroboronprom fired Antonov's president Alexander Donets after an inspection initiated by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). The holding appointed Alexander Moose, acting vice president of design, as interim vice president.
The SBU opened criminal proceedings against the former leadership of Antonov GP for violating the order of producing international goods subject to state control.