KYIV/MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The State Aircraft Research and Testing Center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Feodosiya has completed a new stage of state tests of the AN-70 medium military-transport plane, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
"The tests included checks of the AN-70 plane's airdrop and transportation equipment and dropping of combat hardware and various cargo on parachutes. In particular, cargoes were airdropped from altitudes of 500m and 4,000m," a press service official told Inrterfax-Military News Agency.
Though the tests were successful and there were no equipment failures, experts of the Antonov aircraft research and technical corporation's design bureau, which is the main developer of the AN-70, thoroughly studied proposals concerning improvement of the plane's airdropping equipment on the spot. The proposals will be taken into account during the upgrade of the plane and its equipment, the official stressed.
The tests involved officers and warrant officers of paratrooper services of the 1st airmobile division and 25th separate Dnirpopetrovsk paratrooper brigade, both reporting to the Southern operational command of the Ukrainian Land Forces.
A source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-AVN that in late February, a special commission studied the materials that confirmed completion of a series of works on a section of joint state tests of the AN-70. "44 out of 95 exposed shortcomings have been removed," the source said.
Participants in the conference that took place at the 13th R&D Institute of the Defense Ministry determined the shortcomings that must be removed on a priority basis before test flights are resumed.
"The decision to continue the joint state tests section featuring test flights of the AN-70 plane will be made after practical measures are taken to remove the main shortcomings influencing the flight security and the efficiency of the measures is assessed," the source stressed.
According to experts, the value of R&D related to the plane has reached USD86m.
Under intergovernmental agreements, Russia and Ukraine are financing R&D related to the AN-70 in proportion to the number of planes they are planning to procure. Russia is planning to buy 164 planes and Ukraine 65 planes, which corresponds to 72 and 28 percent of the R&D value.
The AN-70 is powered by four D-27 engines developing 14,000hp each. The aircraft with a take-off weight of 130t is capable of airlifting up to 47t of cargo. Its maximum cruising speed is 750-800kmph. Practical flight range is 1,350km with a cargo of 47t, 3,800km with a cargo of 35t, 5,000km with a cargo of 30t, and 7,400km with a cargo of 20t. Practical flight range with a cargo of 16,900kg and full tanks is 8,200km. The plane's service life is 20,000 flights or 45,000 flight hours or 25 years in operation.