MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The engine construction design bureau Progress in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, is working to develop a new engine for the upgraded heavy lift-frame transportation plane Antonov An-124-300, whose production is to be re-launched at the Aviastar-SP plant in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
"The technical assignment for the engine has been formed," a source in the military-industrial complex told Interfax-AVN.
"Neither Russia, nor Ukraine has ready-made engines for the An-124-300. Such engines must be designed anew," he said.
An-124 and An-124-100 aircraft are powered with D-18T engines with a thrust of up to 23,340 kilograms, made by Motor Sich in Zaporizhzhya.
"The new engine is expected to be developed on the basis of the D-18T. Two versions are to appear - an engine with a thrust of 27 tonnes and an engine with a thrust of 32 tonnes," he said.
The engine with a thrust of 27 tonnes is to be installed on An-124-100/-100M planes after modernization, and the 32-tonne engine on An-124-300s, he said.