Illyushin to Modernize Antonov-124 Transport Plane

 Russia aircraft maker ‘Ilyushin’ plans to modernize the Antonov An-124 heavy-lift transport plane at the cost of over $52.5 million, the company said in its annual procurement plan for 2018.

According to the document, posted on the state procurement web portal, the contract is to be fulfilled by December 2021 along with the upgradation of the An-124-100 (VTA) version of the plane to the An-124-100M (VTA) version, and subsequent trials.

Earlier from Soviet, An-124 Ruslan is now a Ukrainian heavy long-range turbojet transport plane with a maximum lifting capacity of 120 tonnes. It develops a maximum speed of 865 km/h and has a flight range of 4,800 km at full load.

The Russian Aerospace Force currently operates nine An-124 planes and 10 more Ruslan aircraft are used in Russia’s Volga-Dnepr airline, according to open sources.