Ukraine Assembles First Modernised Version Of An-32 Without Russian Components

Ukraine’s state-owned Antonov has assembled a modernised version of An-32 aircraft without any components made in Russia.

Photos have been published on Facebook, confirming that the plane is almost ready: its fuselage has been fully assembled, as well as wings and PW150A engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada have been installed, Ukraine Today reported Thursday.

AN-32 earlier used Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines. As earlier reported, the aircraft will be rolled out from a hangar in December.

Oleksandr Khokhlov, the director of the An-132 program and deputy chief designer at Antonov, in an interview with UNIAN said that, under the contract with the Arabian KACST, the company plans to send the first An-132 aircraft to the customer, Saudi Arabia, in the first quarter of 2017.