From the first day of the Russian military operation, the Russian airborne troops seized control of Antonov International Airport on the outskirts of Kiev, and began with a night of continuous firefights with the Ukrainian army, which was stopped in the airfield, and the fate of the world's only An-225 transport aircraft for repair and maintenance has been the object of much attention.
For the heritage of this great country, of course, everyone hopes that he is all right, during this time there is news that it was blown up, there is also news that it is still intact, until two days ago there were satellite photos of the hangar roof where the plane docked had traces of being hit, and there were signs of fire inside, everyone still hoped that it could be repaired slightly, and the first two days ago, the Antonov Design Bureau also said that there may be a possibility of repair, but today the Russian media released a video of an interview at the airport. It is a complete break of everyone's illusions.
Judging from the footage of the Russian media, the airport outside Kiev and the surrounding area have been completely cleared and controlled by the Russian army, so they dare to let the reporter go to the war zone for interviews, and the camera also focuses on the An-225 in the hangar at the end of the airport, from the video footage, the situation is very unoptimistic, the entire nose part of the transport aircraft has been blown off, and the burn marks are quite serious, and the engine of one wing is basically damaged. The central wing box part, which is most crucial for the structural strength of the transport aircraft, has also been seriously damaged, and one wing has been burned out, only the rear fuselage looks ok, but it can also be said that the whole aircraft has been completely without repair and the possibility of flying into the blue sky again, perhaps it can go to the museum to stay, and perhaps wait for the war to subside before it is demolished; although this is also its original destination, it is still not very regrettable.
The unexploded shells that landed on the ground were obviously shelled by the Ukrainian army
From the footage of the Russian media reporter, we can also basically conclude that the murderer of the transport plane was destroyed, the biggest possibility is that it was unintentionally or even intentionally burned by the Ukrainian army's shelling of the airport; the video appeared on the ground without exploding howitzer shells, and there were also traces of shelling in many places, considering that this airport was taken control by the Russian helicopter on the first day, and the airborne soldiers did not carry large-caliber howitzers, and the long-range artillery fire of the Russian army obviously could not be far to this position Considering that the airborne troops were once in the area near the hangar when they were besieged by the Ukrainian army on the same day, it was obvious that the Ukrainian army shelled this area in order to compete for the airfield, and finally destroyed the aircraft.
Considering that this group of people can even destroy their own leader and even the country, it seems that it is not strange to destroy an airplane, of course, more normal people are still distressed about this great masterpiece of mankind, and some people think of the Antonov factory area that has not yet completed the manufacture of the An-225 II aircraft, can you complete the construction of that one and continue the life of this model?
This problem wants to explain a little complicated, first of all, it can be confirmed that the second aircraft is indeed still in the Antonov factory around the airport, and has not been affected by the war, there is a good state, want to build or can continue to build, before the complete shutdown, also completed the fuselage main structure, wings and most of the components of the manufacturing, the total degree of completion is almost 70%, as long as the completion of the avionics system, power, and interior decoration construction, is indeed a usable new aircraft The question is whether there is this ability or not, and whether it is necessary.
First of all, Ukraine certainly does not have this ability, whether it is now or in the future, the Antonov factory in Kiev has basically completely lost the ability to work large-scale engineering after 14 years of Ukrainian weather change, and it is impossible to complete the final assembly of this super-large aircraft, whether it is the requirements of workers or equipment, but Russia still has this capability, and the Ulyanovsk Aerological Factory, which was responsible for the production of An-124 transport aircraft in the Soviet era, currently has the ability to overhaul and renovate the An-124. If there is a supply of spare parts, the production line can also carry out the final assembly of new aircraft; for the An-225, which has completed the production of fuselage parts, it is not a difficult thing to install, as long as there is an engine, avionics can also quickly develop a new set, but how to drag the fuselage from Kiev on the Dnieper River to Ulyanovsk deep inland Russia is a relatively difficult thing, and the rest, as long as someone is willing to allocate money can be completed.
But even so, there is no possibility of resuming construction, the reason is not that it is poor, but that money cannot be wasted so blindly, and the use and benefits after completion of the construction are too small compared to the cost of completing the construction of this aircraft.
An-225 was originally a special aircraft specially built for the space program, but the energy-blizzard plan has long ceased to exist, and the An-225 naturally does not have any original use, for the heavy-duty large-scale transportation business that An-225 is now mainly responsible for, it can basically rely on more quantities, better maintenance and maintenance, and lower cost of use an-124 to complete, there is no need to use the more inconvenient An-225, but can only use the transportation business of An-225. That's something that only comes out once in a few years, and even if the fee is expensive, it's not enough to revert to the cost of continuation. Antonov Airlines used to make money with the An-225, the first transport aircraft was free for them, and if anyone had to pay a lot of money to build a new 225, there would be no one to pay for it.
As for the Russian army or other armed forces, there is no such demand, not to mention that a single seedling transport aircraft is a nightmare for logistical support, there is no airlift equipment that cannot be solved by a transport aircraft with a maximum load of 60 tons, and a super-large transport aircraft is an area that is not as good as buying and buying, and the utilization rate and dispatch capability of transport aircraft of this scale in the Russian and American armies are far inferior to the small Il-76 or C-17, not to mention the flashy An-225.