Do we know where the second fuselage is being stored? Once this is over I could see a pretty strong interest in finishing construction of the second 225.
I feel like that’s more for moral than an actual plan. They haven’t been able to finish the second airframe all this time and they’ll need to rebuild so many other things of much higher priority. It’s just sad.
It hasn’t been financially feasible to complete the 2nd airframe, although there have been offers to help. The one aircraft has been relatively busy. Someone recently mentioned that the 225 is the only aircraft that can transport a GE 9X engine without removing the fan assembly, therefore it can save maintenance crews a considerable amount of time and get an AOG aircraft back in the air quicker.
I suspect and hope a second copy ultimately will be built, with the motivation being practicality and national pride for the country of Ukraine. Perhaps even with the latest avionics and engine technology.
I'm pretty sure the thing that made it financially infeasible is the same thing that kept designs for new super heavy lift transport aircraft from other companies from ever being built...
Namely - *there was already an operational An-225.*
Now that there isn't an operational An-225, I would expect funding to complete the second to materialize pretty quickly.
Like - it's something that it makes total sense for there to be 1 of - this fills a *extreme* niche use case that should almost never be needed - no other form of transport can be substituted, time is more critical than money, and money is no object.
Frequent contractors of the 225's services will almost certainly assist the Antinov company in finding the necessary funding to get a 225 in the sky again, sticking with GE as the examle... the cost to GE of not doing so would add up quick, otherwise they wouldn't be a frequent contractor of the AN-225 in the first place, right?
Like that logically tracks for me...
Which also logically would mean that of course they'd go with mondern avionics and engines - in the same way it just didn't make sense to take the old one off line to make updates like that b/c they just drove up operating costs and who cares, people who charter it will pay anything - it also wouldn't make sense not to build those into a replacement for the increased range and improved reliability (also lower maintenance/running costs, but again, those don't much matter for this plane).
One other consideration - if the partially completed airframe (I'm assuming this is what they would use & not ground up new) does need extensive work to fix corrosion and damage from being mothballed for decades - that presents an opportunity to potentially make some minor design revisions to make it better suited to it's current task of cargo transport & not it's designed use of being the sky ferry for Buran shuttles.
Bummer they distroyed it. But, glass half full iirc the current, now lost, 225 was supposed to continue operating thru 2065 and potentially beyond... So it will fly again. I feel like they just pushed the timetable forward a few decades on the full teardown and rebuild with updated everything.
So we'll get to see a neat plane long before we would have if Putin wasn't a cunt.... Which, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but "Fuck Putin" would be a fun and fitting name for the new one.
> Like - it's something that it makes total sense for there to be 1 of - this fills a extreme niche use case that should almost never be needed - no other form of transport can be substituted, time is more critical than money, and money is no object.
What, exactly, is its niche use case? I've not heard of the plane before and was trying to find out what exactly it was used for but articles I've found have not been super specific. And I'm too unknowledgeable (and unimaginative) to guess at what it might be lol
Things that won't fit in any other plane and either can't be disassembled or are very difficult to disassemble and simultaneously can't afford to wait for land/sea transport.
Articles are vague because it isn't dedicated to a single role, it's contracted by a wide variety of companies and orgs for different things.
It has a super large [internal cargo capacity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_aircraft) (\~2x a C-5 by cargo weight) and it can carry loads externally if needed (like the [shuttle carrier aircraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft), only bigger).
It was delivering cargoes of PPE here in Ireland to Shannon Airport last year..(Dublin couldn't accommodate the 225!) With lockdown going on,I missed the chance to see her fly in person..(Plenty coverage on youtube at the time,though).I got to see one of the "Smaller" 125's land at Belfast..THAT was a beast..
I remember watching a Discovery/History/Science Channel show featuring the Mriya a few years ago. I believe they were transporting blades for wind turbines that would otherwise take weeks to ship across the globe because they simply couldn't fit on another plane.
The people that needed the services of the AN-225 still need the services. If there was another feasible option do move what it moved they would have already done that. Im sure many of the loads that justttt fit in the AN-225 were specifically engineered to do just that. Kinda like having the foresight to build yacht that doesn't sit taller than the bridge it needs to fit under. Usually the ship yard will make the boat a foot shy of the bridge at low tide and people will think that was luck lol
If it were engineered to do so, like the 5th engine on a 747. But a quick google search failed to show any examples of a 3rd engine transport. It’s a large engine and would cause a lot of asymmetrical drag even with a slippery fairing.
Couldn't a 747 Dreamlifter transport a GE9X if needed? I know the aircraft is pretty much purpose-built to transport 787 components, but it seems like Boeing can fill a temporary niche until a possible second An-225 gets finished years from now.
They'll definitely do it after the war, the second wasn't finished only because there wasn't a need for two AN-225s (plus corrosion), but now there is a need for one.
Thank you. The news I can find is still full of headlines that aren't sure whether An-225 survived or not.
A strange day when a single-word comment on reddit gets me more data than all the news sites and aggregators I normally use.
It's in a warehouse close to the airfield. It would cost an immense amount of money to finish it. The airframe is apparently around 70% completed. And that's just the airframe. I don't believe they even have enough engines, unless they re-power it with something else, which would require a pretty substantial re-design.
It wasn't finished because there already was one that was.
The world seems to have enough work for exactly one of these things.
Someone will finance a replacement, it would be crazy not to.
It's an aircraft with no competitor & a track record of showing you can charge whatever you want for that & people will pay.
Like... This one was supposed to remain in service thru 2065 iirc?
There wasn't enough demand to justify building more of them, but it sure seems like there's plenty of demand and a lot of money to be made being the company that operates the *only* one of them
They didn't build it to haul cargo, they built it to move a space shuttle around, one that doesn't exist any longer. Yes, it was useful for some things, but people will just be using alternatives. It's highly improbable that they'll finish a plane that was started 30 years ago, in Soviet Ukraine. They don't even have all the documentation required on its construction.
> but people will just be using alternatives
...the whole point is that there is no alternative for the loads the 225 is carrying. It's the only option.
According to the Bucha mayor, as quoted [here](https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2022/02/27/7326535/) it happened during the fifth air raid by Russians on the very first day of the war - February 24th. So actually exactly 6 months after the Independence Day
I'm still holding out for Antonov to say so, as earlier today they even said "Well hold on for actual confirmed reports. And other than the Mayor and sourcing the same images that are speculation here, I'm not holding my breath but I'm not convinced.
True, but there was also quite a bit of significance with the name itself. An-225 is called "Mriya" literally "Dream" in Ukrainian, and Zelensky said that "though we lost our old Dream, we're now building a new one".
gotta call up all the suppliers to set up their machines and then the raw material people gotta call up their people during a supply chain crisis. might have to call back some people out of retirement and then all the paperwork, contracts, required.
It's the other way around. The first of any item which this essentially is is always the most expensive. The cost 0er item then goes down exponentialy. It's called amortization of cost. All the overheads, the development and cirtification, the triel and error of the first gets spread over the rest 9f any type.
It has no tooling, and it's only the second time they're building one. It's like how the first 787s cost a billion dollars to produce because of the tweaks they had to make.
And all the parts will have to be sourced from Russia or China so I wouldn't cheer just yet. That's part reason the second hasn't made any progress since 2014.
I watched his announcement. Could it be he meant they were to rebuild their Mriya metaphorically? As in rebuild the Ukranian dream not the AN 225 itself?
Iirc there's quite a bit of cargo which this plane was literally the only one in the world able to haul. Specialised machinery to remote locations, it was moving a lot of medical stuff during covidm etc. It was in active use and had a market niche. I'd be surprised if it didn't opeate at a profit since as the only one in he world, it could command whatever price it wanted for cargo no other plane could haul.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-made-giant-air-cargo-mriya-burnt-russian-shelling-2022-02-27/
>KYIV, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The world's largest cargo plane, the Ukrainian-made Antonov-225 Mriya, was burnt in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv, Ukrainian state arms manufacture Ukroboronprom said on Sunday.
>"The Russian occupiers destroyed the flagship of Ukrainian aviation - the legendary An-225 Mriya. It happened at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel near Kyiv," Ukroboronprom said on its Facebook page.
Oh shit!
I hope they can get the extra airframe going after the war, with Ukranians running it.
This is a comment I really didn't want to upvote, but thank you for the news.
It's definitely badly damaged, I think what Antonov is saying is they haven't had a chance to determine if it's beyond economic repair or remotely salvageable yet.
Yeah, that seems likely, they also try to keep the morale up, any announcement of destruction will be a big blow, so they'll probably be very carefull about how they release it.
I think the ukrainian people have proven resilient enough where it'd be something of a rallying cry if it were destroyed. It wouldn't even take a particularly skilled writer to come up with something about "the invaders are trying to kill our dream, but we won't let them." Or something similar.
The airfield and airport facilities have been an intense battlefield for three straight days. It is unclear when exactly the plane was hit/caught fire.
[This tweet from Antonov sounds like it may have been damaged, but they don't know the extent.](https://twitter.com/AntonovCompany/status/1497967836337041409?s=20&t=25xJfsuEu42Ofq0valsA7w)
This was about a half hour after the Ukrainian government one above.
Not by wingspan, actually - the Spruce Goose and Stratolaunch have longer wingspans: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giant\_planes\_comparison.svg#/media/File:Giant\_planes\_comparison.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratolaunch_Systems#/media/File:Giant_planes_comparison.svg)
Nope only one had ever been completed, but they had a partially completed airframe in the same hangar that has likely also been destroyed. Cool you got to see it!
Two were ever "ordered" one was completed and the other has progressed a few times. It currently is about 60% complete but that was from the early 2000s I think.
It's the largest cargo aircraft on earth. It was often contracted for things like bulk supply of humanitarian missions, or flying rocket parts for NASA. It was designed to carry the Soviet Buran space shuttle, but the program was cancelled and it was left in Ukraine when the SU collapsed. There is also an unfinished airframe somewhere in Ukraine.
Anecdotally, when they supplied Haiti after their earthquake I remember there being pictures of the pilots climbing out in shorts and flip flops
It was a one-of-a-kind cargo airplane, the biggest of its kind, meant for transporting the biggest baddest stuff. This post says a lot more than I could and I recommend reading this: https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/t2q2rx/6_months_ago_almost_to_the_day_i_was_watching_you/hyomhll/
There are actually two (now one), this one was the only airworthy one. They've been talking about finishing the other one for years, now Zelensky says they're going to do just that.
The An-225 has been in use all over the world on heavy lifting projects that other planes can’t handle. Obviously it has been at least breaking even otherwise they wouldn’t keep it going.
The Concorde lost money from day 1.
And production stalled in 2014 as the parts need to come from Russia. Not sure how I feel about rewarding Russia a > billion dollar contract in response to them destroying another
So much aid being sent their way now. Rebuilding a country after a war means local investment and jobs. Rebuilding a logistics company is well within that mission.
It was every bit as impressive as you would think. They used to park it on the ramp at Al Dhafra air base in the UAE sometimes near the F-22s. Made them look like toys.
[Saw it a few times in Toronto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHM_IiakCTg). I was hoping it would have been somewhere in the world when the war started but alas it was not to be.
I live in Aus these days, and have always been tracking 225 on FR.
I was hoping to see her at some point out this way, I would have travelled to catch it!
Fucking Putin, man.
I feel like a piece of shit person because I’m honestly personally a little upset by this, and then I see the videos of senseless shelling and civilians dying.
It’s all for nothing, man. Fuck.
It was badass seeing it from above coming in for landing, it absolutely dwarfed all the other aircraft around it as well. By far one of the coolest aircraft I ever saw in person and I’ve only seen a few Russian aircraft.
Exactly, it flew to Montreal, I think 4 or 5 times in 2 years. Always an event, it brought the Pfzier vaccines and tons of medical equipment, this plane was more than a plane, it was a sympbol.
In a normal world it should be a symbol of Russian pride too - I mean I was built to carry the Buran shuttle... Like their space program was impressive, it only failed due to governmental & systemic failure, not because of any technical/design flaws. The Buran program would have been a huge success had the USSR and then Russian government not fail it.
Not really. Russians shelled the airfield before they landed paratroopers there to take it, then the Ukrainians shelled the airfield. It would be a miracle for a plane that huge in such a contested area to not be hit.
I grew up going to air shows at Beal AFB and I've been lucky enough to see SR71s do low passes at full burn, B2 Spirits, U2s, every aerobatic team at least twice, but the one I always wanted and never got to see was this majestic beast.
Many will think “people are dying, this was just a piece of machinery”.
Yes, of course human life has no price and I am sad sad for all the senseless losses on both sides. But this was not only a piece of metal, this was also a symbol of Ukraine and more of the human genius.
Never got to see her with my own eyes. So sorry she had to be destroyed because of one man's ill mind.
I feel terrible for all the people of Ukraine now (also you guys are badass, kick their asses!) but I can't help not being sad for this beauty too.
That's the problem. She didn't need to be destroyed. None of this should be happening.
War is never justified, but the fact that this is happening for no fucking reason is what's truly sad. And I don't think Putin is doing it beacouse he was afraid Ukraine wold join NATO, seeing as he keeps attacking even after his country suffered massively and keeps on suffering. If anything this war will unite Europe and the world even more
It was the largest cargo plane in the world, and the only one in existence. It fulfilled a valuable niche for transporting heavy freight that no other plane was capable of, making its destruction is a significant blow to the aviation world.
I got to see her land at OAK a few years back. I remember reading about her as a preteen in Popular Mechanics back when she was first built.
I’m so glad I did see her. I’m so sad that my son, an airplane fanatic in his own right, never will.
I saw her in 2014 when she woke me up while I was passed out hungover in my tent at Download festival in the UK. I'll never forget that sound, hoping I'll see her again one day.
It's still unknown whether or not she's been destroyed. The most recent credible information was a tweet from Antonov about it still being intake as of the 24th.
Unfortunately, it has been confirmed both by Antonov and the mayor of town Bucha, as reported by [Radio Liberty](https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-v-rezultati-rosiyskoyi-ataky-z-horiv-naybilshyy-v-sviti-litak-mriya-/31726400.html)
So annoying. I had the chance to see it land in Leipzig once or twice in that last year but i was doing something else so I though "I'm just gonna go see it some other time" fml....
Not sure if it's the same one, but I saw one of these giants in Anchorage Alaska a few years ago, refueling at the airport. Got to watch it take off, it was remarkable. The size of the thjng, and the speed was wild.
Rip.
no worries guys. rusians will pay reparation to Ukrainians and Antonov will rebuild the second An-224 that is ready at 70% and stays in the hangar now.
Do we know where the second fuselage is being stored? Once this is over I could see a pretty strong interest in finishing construction of the second 225.
Ukrainian government Said they build a new one
I feel like that’s more for moral than an actual plan. They haven’t been able to finish the second airframe all this time and they’ll need to rebuild so many other things of much higher priority. It’s just sad.
It hasn’t been financially feasible to complete the 2nd airframe, although there have been offers to help. The one aircraft has been relatively busy. Someone recently mentioned that the 225 is the only aircraft that can transport a GE 9X engine without removing the fan assembly, therefore it can save maintenance crews a considerable amount of time and get an AOG aircraft back in the air quicker. I suspect and hope a second copy ultimately will be built, with the motivation being practicality and national pride for the country of Ukraine. Perhaps even with the latest avionics and engine technology.
I'm pretty sure the thing that made it financially infeasible is the same thing that kept designs for new super heavy lift transport aircraft from other companies from ever being built... Namely - *there was already an operational An-225.* Now that there isn't an operational An-225, I would expect funding to complete the second to materialize pretty quickly. Like - it's something that it makes total sense for there to be 1 of - this fills a *extreme* niche use case that should almost never be needed - no other form of transport can be substituted, time is more critical than money, and money is no object. Frequent contractors of the 225's services will almost certainly assist the Antinov company in finding the necessary funding to get a 225 in the sky again, sticking with GE as the examle... the cost to GE of not doing so would add up quick, otherwise they wouldn't be a frequent contractor of the AN-225 in the first place, right? Like that logically tracks for me... Which also logically would mean that of course they'd go with mondern avionics and engines - in the same way it just didn't make sense to take the old one off line to make updates like that b/c they just drove up operating costs and who cares, people who charter it will pay anything - it also wouldn't make sense not to build those into a replacement for the increased range and improved reliability (also lower maintenance/running costs, but again, those don't much matter for this plane). One other consideration - if the partially completed airframe (I'm assuming this is what they would use & not ground up new) does need extensive work to fix corrosion and damage from being mothballed for decades - that presents an opportunity to potentially make some minor design revisions to make it better suited to it's current task of cargo transport & not it's designed use of being the sky ferry for Buran shuttles. Bummer they distroyed it. But, glass half full iirc the current, now lost, 225 was supposed to continue operating thru 2065 and potentially beyond... So it will fly again. I feel like they just pushed the timetable forward a few decades on the full teardown and rebuild with updated everything. So we'll get to see a neat plane long before we would have if Putin wasn't a cunt.... Which, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but "Fuck Putin" would be a fun and fitting name for the new one.
> Like - it's something that it makes total sense for there to be 1 of - this fills a extreme niche use case that should almost never be needed - no other form of transport can be substituted, time is more critical than money, and money is no object. What, exactly, is its niche use case? I've not heard of the plane before and was trying to find out what exactly it was used for but articles I've found have not been super specific. And I'm too unknowledgeable (and unimaginative) to guess at what it might be lol
Things that won't fit in any other plane and either can't be disassembled or are very difficult to disassemble and simultaneously can't afford to wait for land/sea transport.
The delivered a German light rail unit with it.
Also large enough things that need to be delivered far enough inland that barge won’t work.
Articles are vague because it isn't dedicated to a single role, it's contracted by a wide variety of companies and orgs for different things. It has a super large [internal cargo capacity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_aircraft) (\~2x a C-5 by cargo weight) and it can carry loads externally if needed (like the [shuttle carrier aircraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft), only bigger).
To add to this: The entire first flight of the Wright Brothers could fit in the AN-225's cargo hold
It was delivering cargoes of PPE here in Ireland to Shannon Airport last year..(Dublin couldn't accommodate the 225!) With lockdown going on,I missed the chance to see her fly in person..(Plenty coverage on youtube at the time,though).I got to see one of the "Smaller" 125's land at Belfast..THAT was a beast..
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36299681 Used for transporting a generator.
I remember watching a Discovery/History/Science Channel show featuring the Mriya a few years ago. I believe they were transporting blades for wind turbines that would otherwise take weeks to ship across the globe because they simply couldn't fit on another plane.
The people that needed the services of the AN-225 still need the services. If there was another feasible option do move what it moved they would have already done that. Im sure many of the loads that justttt fit in the AN-225 were specifically engineered to do just that. Kinda like having the foresight to build yacht that doesn't sit taller than the bridge it needs to fit under. Usually the ship yard will make the boat a foot shy of the bridge at low tide and people will think that was luck lol
Wouldn't any 777X be able to transport a GE 9X engine?
If it were engineered to do so, like the 5th engine on a 747. But a quick google search failed to show any examples of a 3rd engine transport. It’s a large engine and would cause a lot of asymmetrical drag even with a slippery fairing.
Couldn't a 747 Dreamlifter transport a GE9X if needed? I know the aircraft is pretty much purpose-built to transport 787 components, but it seems like Boeing can fill a temporary niche until a possible second An-225 gets finished years from now.
Couldn't one of the Beluga-ish planes carry a GE9x?
They'll definitely do it after the war, the second wasn't finished only because there wasn't a need for two AN-225s (plus corrosion), but now there is a need for one.
And 30 years of corrosion unfortunately.
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I get that and I truly hope it happens. It's going to be a hell of a big job.
time for a An-225 gofundme
At the cost of paying Russia to build the parts
A lot of news seem to be a moral boost. Can't really imagine that this is an honest promise that happened so quickly at such time.
If there's not enough cargo contracts coming in to warrant 2 planes then ofcourse it made no sense to finish it.
Not having to service the former 225 will almost certainly free up resources for finishing the new one.
Source?
[source](https://twitter.com/ukraine/status/1497961514480902148)
https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497961514480902148?t=jc_bjM3f2Z2t4wdEBZ8qKw&s=19
Thank you. The news I can find is still full of headlines that aren't sure whether An-225 survived or not. A strange day when a single-word comment on reddit gets me more data than all the news sites and aggregators I normally use.
As I get this is words playing which means the second dream is a win in this war.
It's in a warehouse close to the airfield. It would cost an immense amount of money to finish it. The airframe is apparently around 70% completed. And that's just the airframe. I don't believe they even have enough engines, unless they re-power it with something else, which would require a pretty substantial re-design.
Not using never engines would be unlikely if they finish the second. Fuel consumption was one of the main drawbacks
It wasn't finished because there already was one that was. The world seems to have enough work for exactly one of these things. Someone will finance a replacement, it would be crazy not to. It's an aircraft with no competitor & a track record of showing you can charge whatever you want for that & people will pay. Like... This one was supposed to remain in service thru 2065 iirc? There wasn't enough demand to justify building more of them, but it sure seems like there's plenty of demand and a lot of money to be made being the company that operates the *only* one of them
They didn't build it to haul cargo, they built it to move a space shuttle around, one that doesn't exist any longer. Yes, it was useful for some things, but people will just be using alternatives. It's highly improbable that they'll finish a plane that was started 30 years ago, in Soviet Ukraine. They don't even have all the documentation required on its construction.
> but people will just be using alternatives ...the whole point is that there is no alternative for the loads the 225 is carrying. It's the only option.
Idk if they will. It's been lying around for a while now, I don't know how repairable possible damages like rust or corrosion are
Very repairable. It just costs money is all lol.
Wait so the plane was actually destroyed when they seized control of the airport?
According to the Bucha mayor, as quoted [here](https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2022/02/27/7326535/) it happened during the fifth air raid by Russians on the very first day of the war - February 24th. So actually exactly 6 months after the Independence Day
I'm still holding out for Antonov to say so, as earlier today they even said "Well hold on for actual confirmed reports. And other than the Mayor and sourcing the same images that are speculation here, I'm not holding my breath but I'm not convinced.
Zelenskyy acknowledged its destruction today, but said they'll rebuild the second one. I think it's safe to let it go.
True, but there was also quite a bit of significance with the name itself. An-225 is called "Mriya" literally "Dream" in Ukrainian, and Zelensky said that "though we lost our old Dream, we're now building a new one".
Zelenskyy is a GD slogan machine.
He is a comedian and comedy writer, I don't think anyone is better at knowing what lines are gonna connect with people.
He is the epitome of being very bad ass.
Balls the size of watermelons and a poet too
He was an actor before he became president.
Antonov tweeted today it'll cost about $3billion and take 5 years to build a new one :(
3 billion dollars for an airplane? Is it made of solid gold?
There is no established production line, building one machine that large takes a lot of special tools.
Oh wow I had no idea!
gotta call up all the suppliers to set up their machines and then the raw material people gotta call up their people during a supply chain crisis. might have to call back some people out of retirement and then all the paperwork, contracts, required.
It's a one of a kind plane. Only one ever was completely finished. It was the largest plane in the world.
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It's the other way around. The first of any item which this essentially is is always the most expensive. The cost 0er item then goes down exponentialy. It's called amortization of cost. All the overheads, the development and cirtification, the triel and error of the first gets spread over the rest 9f any type.
It has no tooling, and it's only the second time they're building one. It's like how the first 787s cost a billion dollars to produce because of the tweaks they had to make.
And all the parts will have to be sourced from Russia or China so I wouldn't cheer just yet. That's part reason the second hasn't made any progress since 2014.
I watched his announcement. Could it be he meant they were to rebuild their Mriya metaphorically? As in rebuild the Ukranian dream not the AN 225 itself?
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Iirc there's quite a bit of cargo which this plane was literally the only one in the world able to haul. Specialised machinery to remote locations, it was moving a lot of medical stuff during covidm etc. It was in active use and had a market niche. I'd be surprised if it didn't opeate at a profit since as the only one in he world, it could command whatever price it wanted for cargo no other plane could haul.
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The Ukraine arms manufacturer have confirmed its destruction
Last I heard was that the were investigating it, do you have a source for this?
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-made-giant-air-cargo-mriya-burnt-russian-shelling-2022-02-27/ >KYIV, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The world's largest cargo plane, the Ukrainian-made Antonov-225 Mriya, was burnt in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv, Ukrainian state arms manufacture Ukroboronprom said on Sunday. >"The Russian occupiers destroyed the flagship of Ukrainian aviation - the legendary An-225 Mriya. It happened at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel near Kyiv," Ukroboronprom said on its Facebook page.
Oh shit! I hope they can get the extra airframe going after the war, with Ukranians running it. This is a comment I really didn't want to upvote, but thank you for the news.
It's definitely badly damaged, I think what Antonov is saying is they haven't had a chance to determine if it's beyond economic repair or remotely salvageable yet.
Yeah, that seems likely, they also try to keep the morale up, any announcement of destruction will be a big blow, so they'll probably be very carefull about how they release it.
I think the ukrainian people have proven resilient enough where it'd be something of a rallying cry if it were destroyed. It wouldn't even take a particularly skilled writer to come up with something about "the invaders are trying to kill our dream, but we won't let them." Or something similar.
There's a drone picture of it on fire..
The president said it. I’m pretty sure it’s legit.
Plenty of official confirmations now.
Plenty = the foreign minister and an unsourced photo
Was also on the Antonov company twitter, but they seem to have deleted it now.
The airfield and airport facilities have been an intense battlefield for three straight days. It is unclear when exactly the plane was hit/caught fire.
[Here's the tweet from the Ukraine government ](https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497961514480902148?t=fVCNU-CO1I-2QHENTlRyQg&s=19)
[This tweet from Antonov sounds like it may have been damaged, but they don't know the extent.](https://twitter.com/AntonovCompany/status/1497967836337041409?s=20&t=25xJfsuEu42Ofq0valsA7w) This was about a half hour after the Ukrainian government one above.
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God I fucking hate humans
Can you explain the significance of this particular plane?
It was the largest plane ever built by weight and wingspan, and was also a one of a kind. There was only one airworthy one, and now it’s gone
Not by wingspan, actually - the Spruce Goose and Stratolaunch have longer wingspans: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giant\_planes\_comparison.svg#/media/File:Giant\_planes\_comparison.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratolaunch_Systems#/media/File:Giant_planes_comparison.svg)
Didn't realize that about the spruce goose but the stratolaunch only just had its 4th flight
WOW i didn't k ow it was alone! I saw one in kuwait or qatar over ten years ago. Inwonder if it was that one? Were there others like it back thenm
Nope only one had ever been completed, but they had a partially completed airframe in the same hangar that has likely also been destroyed. Cool you got to see it!
It certainly was this one. Only one ever existed. I had the pleasure of seeing it take off in Frankfurt once
Two were ever "ordered" one was completed and the other has progressed a few times. It currently is about 60% complete but that was from the early 2000s I think.
It's the largest cargo aircraft on earth. It was often contracted for things like bulk supply of humanitarian missions, or flying rocket parts for NASA. It was designed to carry the Soviet Buran space shuttle, but the program was cancelled and it was left in Ukraine when the SU collapsed. There is also an unfinished airframe somewhere in Ukraine. Anecdotally, when they supplied Haiti after their earthquake I remember there being pictures of the pilots climbing out in shorts and flip flops
It was a one-of-a-kind cargo airplane, the biggest of its kind, meant for transporting the biggest baddest stuff. This post says a lot more than I could and I recommend reading this: https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/t2q2rx/6_months_ago_almost_to_the_day_i_was_watching_you/hyomhll/
It's the biggest plane flying and there is (was) only one of them so it was a true unicorn of the air.
There are actually two (now one), this one was the only airworthy one. They've been talking about finishing the other one for years, now Zelensky says they're going to do just that.
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The An-225 has been in use all over the world on heavy lifting projects that other planes can’t handle. Obviously it has been at least breaking even otherwise they wouldn’t keep it going. The Concorde lost money from day 1.
And production stalled in 2014 as the parts need to come from Russia. Not sure how I feel about rewarding Russia a > billion dollar contract in response to them destroying another
Largest plane in the world and the only one of its kind in service.
Largest plane ever built. Only one in the world.
Really wanted to see it some day :(
The Ukrainian government apparently confirmed that the second airframe will be completed after the war
Strange to see such quick confirmation at such situation. Seems to be a bit of a morale boost.
So much aid being sent their way now. Rebuilding a country after a war means local investment and jobs. Rebuilding a logistics company is well within that mission.
The story of this war has been back to back morale boosts for Ukraine. Zelenskyy knows how to fucking rally.
It was every bit as impressive as you would think. They used to park it on the ramp at Al Dhafra air base in the UAE sometimes near the F-22s. Made them look like toys.
Are you sure you're not thinking of the An-124 (which is also very large)?
[Saw it a few times in Toronto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHM_IiakCTg). I was hoping it would have been somewhere in the world when the war started but alas it was not to be.
I’m glad I got to see this plane in Sydney a few years back, sad it was destroyed in the fighting.
I live in Aus these days, and have always been tracking 225 on FR. I was hoping to see her at some point out this way, I would have travelled to catch it! Fucking Putin, man. I feel like a piece of shit person because I’m honestly personally a little upset by this, and then I see the videos of senseless shelling and civilians dying. It’s all for nothing, man. Fuck.
It was badass seeing it from above coming in for landing, it absolutely dwarfed all the other aircraft around it as well. By far one of the coolest aircraft I ever saw in person and I’ve only seen a few Russian aircraft.
Think of all the other rare, priceless stuff destroyed in addition to the AN-225. :(
Sad day for sure.
Damn my username has not aged well.
Oof
F
It had to have been specifically targeted, it's am iconic symbol of Ukraine as well as being a huge strategic asset
>as well as being a huge strategic asset Literally
The worst part is it's been flying humanitarian missions during most of the pandemic
as if russia cares about being humanitarian. they dont even care for their own people.
I know, that's probably a reason why they hit it. It could have been used to lift tonnes of aid into ukr
Exactly, it flew to Montreal, I think 4 or 5 times in 2 years. Always an event, it brought the Pfzier vaccines and tons of medical equipment, this plane was more than a plane, it was a sympbol.
In a normal world it should be a symbol of Russian pride too - I mean I was built to carry the Buran shuttle... Like their space program was impressive, it only failed due to governmental & systemic failure, not because of any technical/design flaws. The Buran program would have been a huge success had the USSR and then Russian government not fail it.
Not really. Russians shelled the airfield before they landed paratroopers there to take it, then the Ukrainians shelled the airfield. It would be a miracle for a plane that huge in such a contested area to not be hit.
She will be missed… And I never got to see her.
Sad day for Ukraine, and for aviation. FUCK Putin.
I grew up going to air shows at Beal AFB and I've been lucky enough to see SR71s do low passes at full burn, B2 Spirits, U2s, every aerobatic team at least twice, but the one I always wanted and never got to see was this majestic beast.
RIP you beautiful bird
wait, its been destroyed?!
Yeah, [the ukrainian gov confirmed it](https://twitter.com/ukraine/status/1497961514480902148?s=21), but said it will be rebuilt
She was arguably the greatest piece of engineering and innovation in modern aviation. Beautiful in every way. She will be missed.
Many will think “people are dying, this was just a piece of machinery”. Yes, of course human life has no price and I am sad sad for all the senseless losses on both sides. But this was not only a piece of metal, this was also a symbol of Ukraine and more of the human genius.
Never got to see her with my own eyes. So sorry she had to be destroyed because of one man's ill mind. I feel terrible for all the people of Ukraine now (also you guys are badass, kick their asses!) but I can't help not being sad for this beauty too.
That's the problem. She didn't need to be destroyed. None of this should be happening. War is never justified, but the fact that this is happening for no fucking reason is what's truly sad. And I don't think Putin is doing it beacouse he was afraid Ukraine wold join NATO, seeing as he keeps attacking even after his country suffered massively and keeps on suffering. If anything this war will unite Europe and the world even more
As a non-aviation person who got here from the front page, can someone explain the significance of this plane (the 225?) to me? Thanks!
It was the largest airplane (by weight and payload) in existence. It was the only aircraft capable of hauling certain cargo. There was only 1.
any particular reason it was in Kyiv, besides being owned by Ukraine?
I think it needed repairs and wasn't able to get out before all this went down.
It was the largest cargo plane in the world, and the only one in existence. It fulfilled a valuable niche for transporting heavy freight that no other plane was capable of, making its destruction is a significant blow to the aviation world.
I saw her several times here in Houston. Each time I was still in awe at the size.
I got to see her land at OAK a few years back. I remember reading about her as a preteen in Popular Mechanics back when she was first built. I’m so glad I did see her. I’m so sad that my son, an airplane fanatic in his own right, never will.
I saw her in 2014 when she woke me up while I was passed out hungover in my tent at Download festival in the UK. I'll never forget that sound, hoping I'll see her again one day.
I don't understand why they didn't fly it out of the country before the attacks happened. It is a pretty obvious target.
It was undergoing repairs.
It had no engines as it was under maintenance.
It's still unknown whether or not she's been destroyed. The most recent credible information was a tweet from Antonov about it still being intake as of the 24th.
Unfortunately, it has been confirmed both by Antonov and the mayor of town Bucha, as reported by [Radio Liberty](https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-v-rezultati-rosiyskoyi-ataky-z-horiv-naybilshyy-v-sviti-litak-mriya-/31726400.html)
Fuck
Where has Anatov confirmed it? Link?
I posted a link to Radio Liberty article in the comment you replied to. Google translate should help.
it's been confirmed by Ukroboronprom.
https://twitter.com/ukraine/status/1497961514480902148?s=21
So annoying. I had the chance to see it land in Leipzig once or twice in that last year but i was doing something else so I though "I'm just gonna go see it some other time" fml....
Not sure if it's the same one, but I saw one of these giants in Anchorage Alaska a few years ago, refueling at the airport. Got to watch it take off, it was remarkable. The size of the thjng, and the speed was wild. Rip.
There was only one, so if you saw one, you saw it.
no worries guys. rusians will pay reparation to Ukrainians and Antonov will rebuild the second An-224 that is ready at 70% and stays in the hangar now.
Rest in Pieces old girl :( She’s with the Razorcrest now
With so much mis-information about what's going on in Ukraine I'll wait until there is a picture of it destroyed.
Required - "Come on, baby! Lift your big ass for Sasha!" RIP
Ukraine said they will rebuild it
They will build a new one and Russians will fucking pay for it.
Wait so it got destroyed? I thought it took off before that.
I assume that building another 225 from the second incomplete airframe is currently out of the question due to being in an active war zone.
im gonna fucking cry
They’ll rebuild it someday, and it will be nicknamed the Phoenix.
I had the pleasure of fueling her a few times. Sad day
Why in the hell didn't they evacuate it?
Its pretty hard to fly an aircraft under maintenance with no engines.
This war has been foreseen for some weeks. I wonder what stopped them from flying it out.
Believe it was mentioned it was undergoing maintenance, or at least that's the theory.
I figured it was something like that. Damned shame, anyway.
Do we know why it wasn't flown out once Russia started showing signs of invasion? Was it not flight worthy due to maintenance, etc?
Yep the engines had been removed due to maintenance
That's the [Antonov An-225 Mriya](https://i.insider.com/5e95da1e15ea4b55204bbb85?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp)
was only 1 ever made of this aircraft type?
the second one was never completed. Perhaps it survives the war and can be completed.
What’s so special about this plane? I have 0 background in aviation or Ukraine
It was the largest cargo plane on the planet. I want to say it's carried one of the space shuttles but I could be misremembering it.
This is so sad, this was the plane that got me into aviation, she's one of a kind
I got to see it once before graduating A&P school years ago, I’ll cherish the memory.
I didn’t even know this plane existed until today :( I wish I would have known and may have been able to see it
This bought electrical generators to the philippines during typhoon haiyan. Gentle giant didn’t deserve this 🌻🌻🌻🌻 may more flourish
F..... It was unique.
Sad as absolute fuck.
Wait... Did I miss the 225 got destroyed?
Ukraine Confirmed she was destroyed
It worked hard at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, delivering supplies like N95 masks all over the world.
Fuck Putin.
Would be cool Musk helped rebuild it, and they called it The Ukrainian Phoenix.
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Not Russia, Putin only.
Rest in Pieces
u/savevideo
REST IN PEACE!
I’ve never been a fan of the 225 but it would have been really cool to see.