BERLIN. May 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The Ukrainian AN-124 Condor, also known as Ruslan, is taking part in a NATO tender for selecting a transport airplane to carry cargo for the alliance.
"The work to select a cargo plane for European countries has been continuing for a long period of time. NATO nations use Russian air carriers' AN 124-type airplanes to airlift cargo. Apart from Ukraine's Antonov Airlines, the NATO tender also involves a number of other Russian companies operating the same type of planes and the United States," Antonov Airlines executive director Kostyantyn Lushakov told a news conference at Germany's ILA 2004 air show on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian company is working on plans to lease AN-124s throughout 2012.
"The winner of the tender will be decided during a NATO summit this summer. The contract will be signed by the end of the year. This program will be put into effect starting from 2010," Lushakov said.
"Our proposals are much more cost-effective. According to a number of estimates, they are six times cheaper than, for instance, the U.S. planes," the executive director said.
The AN-124's chief rival is Boeing's C-17.
Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Industrial Policy Valeriy Kazakov told the news conference that the AN-124 has serious advantages and can win the tender.
"The plane is exhibited live at the air show, and everybody can study it. We support fair competition. The strongest one must win," Kazakov said.
According to experts, the AN-124 fully meets specific requirements of NATO aviation bodies. Thanks to it, the plane is widely used by the defense ministries of NATO member nations. For instance, in 2002-2003 AN-124s flew 345 sorties and airlifted 22,200t of various cargoes on orders of the German Defense Ministry alone.
Antonov experts say that NATO countries will be able to lease three times more AN-124s than C-17s, spending the same sum of money. As the Ruslan has an advantage in cargo capacity (it can carry 120t, while the C-17 has a capacity of 76.7t), European nations will be able to airlift six times more cargo without spending any extra money.