An-178 - transport short-haul aircraft, developed by aviation scientific and technical complex (ASTC) them. Antonov. The model is based on the An-158 aircraft, which, in turn, is a modification of the An-148 passenger short-haul aircraft. From the very beginning of the development, the An-178 was positioned as a replacement for the outdated An-12 transport plane. Ultimately, it was this circumstance that prompted the ASTC to them. Antonov to begin work on the design of a new military transport aircraft.
Structurally, the An-178 transport aircraft is designed as a high-profile plane. Two engines (turbofan D-436-148FM) are located on the pylons under the wing. The aerodynamic design of the An-178 is normal (or classic). This means that the tail of the aircraft (stabilizer) is located after its wing.
Flight performance of the An-178:
- Length - 32.9 m
- Wingspan - 28.8 m
- Cargo compartment length with cargo ramp - 16.65 m
- Cargo compartment height - 2750 mm
- Cargo compartment width - 2748 mm
- The floor area of the cargo compartment, together with a cargo ramp - 40 square meters. m
- Cargo compartment with cargo ramp - 125 cubic meters. m
- Payload weight - 15-18 tons
- Maximum cruising speed - 825 km / h
- Maximum flight range:
- 5500 km (loading mass 5 t)
- 4000 km (load mass 10 tons)
- 2600 km (load mass 13.5 tons)
- 2000 km (load weight 15 t)
- 1000 km (18 t loading mass)
- Practical ceiling - 12000 m / 12200 m (according to various sources)
- Takeoff - 2500 m
- Payload:
- 99 soldiers;
- 80 paratroopers;
- 40 lying injured + 30 seated;
- 3 x pallet-platforms P7 with a load;
- 2 x sea container M2.
History of creation
The history of the creation of the An-148 takes its beginning in February 2010. It was during this period the ASTC. Antonov announced the beginning of the development of a new transport aircraft, which will be a full-fledged replacement of the military transport An-12. It was in connection with this that it was important that the characteristics of the new aircraft were not lower than those of its predecessor. It was very important that the aircraft could be operated on the same classes of airfields as the An-12. Additionally required a higher capacity, not to mention the corresponding reliability and safety.
Construction of the first fuselage of the An-178 was completed in July 2014. In the autumn of the same year, the first prototype of the aircraft was completely ready. Its tests began in November 2014 and ended only in early 2018. Finally, on May 7 of the same year, an event that everyone had been waiting for more than five years occurred: An-178 made its first flight. The flight was carried out over the airfield Gostomel, located in the Kiev region.
At the end of 2018, the construction of the second fuselage of the An-178 aircraft was completed.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of the An-178 is that in fact it is able to occupy a “niche” formed due to the obsolescence of the An12 military transport aircraft, and this will allow a serious increase in demand. Thus, the aircraft’s performance characteristics are not inferior, but, on the contrary, exceed the characteristics of its “distant relative”.
The carrying capacity of the An-178 ranges from 18 to 20 tons, which is a very good indicator for a short-haul transport aircraft. TVRD turbofan engines D-436-148FM allow the aircraft to develop a good cruising speed (up to 825 km / h).
Another positive side of the new military transport aircraft is an improved control system. In the An-178, it is carried out at the expense of the latest computer systems designed to eliminate any errors when piloting.
The main disadvantage of the An-178 military transport aircraft is a serious mistake made during its development, namely: an impaired centering of the aircraft body. So, this error is very expensive: without a cargo, the plane is forced to take on board a ballast weighing 1.32 tons in the form of 15 plates, which must be fixed to the cockpit.
A possible problem for the aircraft can also be the refusal of the Ukrainian leadership from the Russian nodes in the production of the An-178, which could lead to the replacement of Russian parts (the use of which was originally intended for its production) by others, which could damage the reliability and characteristics of the aircraft.
Another disadvantage (or rather, many small flaws) can be called various "childhood diseases" of the An-178 in the form of minor flaws and malfunctions of avionics and aircraft components, to which any model recently tested and not yet entered into mass production is subject. However, it remains to hope that all these minor flaws will be corrected in the future.
Conclusion
As of today (mid-2018), only two units of the An-178 military transport aircraft have been produced. That is why judging the plane as objectively as possible is not yet possible. There are many minor problems in the work of onboard systems and automation, there are serious errors in the design of the aircraft, over which work is now underway. At the same time, the changing political situation may be in the path of the production and operation of the aircraft, since from the very beginning of the development it was assumed that the An-178 will be produced not only in Ukraine, but in Russia. At the same time, it was planned that they would also be the main operating countries of the An-178.
At the same time, however, it can be noted that the An-178 has great potential as an aircraft, created on the basis of a reliable and good An-158 model. Another argument in favor of the new military transport aircraft is that today the An-178 has almost nothing to compare. Its main "competitor", the An-12, has long been outdated and is being used less and less today. So, the An-178 has every chance of becoming a new widely used short-haul military transport aircraft.
Author photo: Evgeniy Kudinov.
