MOSCOW/KYIV. Oct 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The testing of the D- 27, the AN-70 military transport plane's engine, at the Progress Design Bureau in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya was supervised by Russian Air Force experts, a competent source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
The engine had 22 cases of self-switchoff and over 30 cases of unstable operation during the flight tests of the aircraft. In addition, 116 various failures were detected, and the self- switchoff rate made 190 hours.
"These failures were logged in the state trials official statement for the AN-70 powered by the D-27 of December 25, 2001," the source said.
He said that Progress decided to make another seven experimental engines and upgrade the design.
The source added that the gas-dynamic stability of the engine was tested not only by the designer but also by the Central Aircraft Engine Building Institute in Moscow. However, he went on, Russian Air Force experts involved in testing the engine do not take part in the flight tests of the aircraft.
"The defense ministries and other institutions of the two countries keep on preparing an agreement on sharing the property within the AN-70 program. The agreement might be signed either this December or in early 2004," the source said.
According to the source, the Russian government decided to pay off the USD48.2m's debt to other participants in the program, and the relevant suggestions are to be submitted to the government in the fourth quarter of the current year.
Experts say that to complete the flight tests of the aircraft as planned in 2004 will cost USD85.4m.
Last week a competent military source in Kyiv told Interfax that Ukraine had completed the tests of the D-27, which was set as the Russian condition to go on with the program.
The program for the AN-70 STOL military cargo aircraft has been implemented together by Russia and Ukraine on the basis of two intergovernmental agreements of June 24, 1993, and May 19, 1999. The state customers of the aircraft are the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries, and the head contractor is Antonov ANTK, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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 originally planned to buy 164 planes and Ukraine 65 planes, which corresponds to 72 and 28 percent of the R&D value. The plane's mass production will be handled by the Polyot production association in Russia's Omsk and by the Aviant aircraft plant in Kyiv.
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. The plane's service life is 20,000 flights or 45,000 flight hours or 25 years in operation.
The Russian budget for 2004 allocates no funds for mass production of the AN-70. Russia is also taking measures to speed up state tests of the IL-76MF Candid military transport plane.