{"id":4696,"date":"2026-10-07T05:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T05:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jfmwebsie.xyz\/my_website2\/aircraft\/an-124-ruslan\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:22:45","slug":"an-124-ruslan","status":"publish","type":"aircraft","link":"https:\/\/jfmwebsie.xyz\/my_website2\/aircraft\/an-124-ruslan\/","title":{"rendered":"An-124 Ruslan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan<\/strong> (Russian<\/a>: \u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d\u043e\u0432 \u0410\u043d-124 \u0420\u0443\u0441\u043b\u0430\u043d; Ukrainian<\/a>: \u0410\u043d-124 \u0420\u0443\u0441\u043b\u0430\u043d; NATO reporting name<\/a>: Condor<\/strong>) is a large, strategic airlift<\/a>, four-engined aircraft<\/a> that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov<\/a> Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR<\/a> of the Soviet Union<\/a> (USSR). The An-124 is the world’s second heaviest gross weight<\/a> production cargo airplane and heaviest operating cargo aircraft<\/a>, behind the destroyed one-off Antonov An-225 Mriya<\/a> (an enlarged derivative of the An-124).[3]<\/a><\/sup> The An-124 remains the largest military transport aircraft in service.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1971, design work commenced on the project, which was initially referred to as Izdeliye 400<\/em> (Product #400<\/em>), at the Antonov Design Bureau<\/a> in response to a shortage in heavy airlift capability within the Military Transport Aviation<\/a> Command (Komandovaniye voyenno-transportnoy aviatsii<\/em> or VTA) arm of the Soviet Air Forces<\/a>. Two separate final assembly lines plants setup for the aircraft, one at Aviastar-SP<\/a> (ex. Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex) in Ulyanovsk<\/a>, Russia<\/a> and the other was the Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT<\/a>, in Ukraine. Assembly of the first aircraft begun in 1979; the An-124 (which was sometimes referred to as the An-40<\/em> in the West<\/a>) performed its maiden flight<\/a> on 24 December 1982. The type made its first appearance in the Western world at the 1985 Paris Air Show<\/a>. Viktor Tolmachev was the Chief engineer of An-124 and An-225.[5]<\/a><\/sup> After the dissolution of the Soviet Union<\/a>, commercial operations were quickly pursued for the An-124, leading to civil certification being obtained by Antonov on 30 December 1992. Various commercial operators opted to purchase the type, often acquiring refurbished ex-military airlifters or stored fuselages rather than new-build aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By July 2013, 26 An-124s were reportedly in commercial service while a further ten airlifters were on order.[6]<\/a><\/sup> During 2008, it was announced that Russia and Ukraine were to jointly resume production of the type. At one point, it looked as if Russia would order 20 new-build airlifters. However, in August 2014, it was reported that the planned resumption of manufacturing had been shelved due to the political tensions between Russia and Ukraine<\/a>.[7]<\/a><\/sup> In 2019, there were 26 An-124s in commercial service<\/p>\n\n\n\t

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