The world’s largest Antonov AN-225 Mriya air transport was destroyed at Hostomil airport near Kyiv as a result of the attack by Russian aviation. This was announced by the mayor of the city of Bucha. Later, this information was confirmed in “Ukroboronprom”.
“The flagship of Ukrainian aviation, the legendary AN-225 Mriya, was destroyed. It happened at the Antonov airfield in Hostomil near Kyiv, where the plane was parked,” the Ukrainian concern said in a Facebook post. Ukroboronprom also added that it would take about USD 3 billion and more than five years to restore the aircraft.
“Mriya” was designed at the Kyiv Mechanical Plant. This required a super-heavy air transport capable of transporting various components of the aerospace system from the place of production and assembly to the launch site. Another task was to transport the shuttle itself. In addition, in the future, it was supposed to use the AN-225 as the first stage of the air launch system.
In total, two airplanes were planned to be designed, but only one was completed. The length of the “Mriya” was 84 m, height — 18.2 m, wingspan — 88.4 m. The maximum take-off weight of the airplane reached 640 tons. It could carry up to 250 tons of cargo.
