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Who wants to buy a few AN-124 ??

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  • Who wants to buy a few AN-124 ??

    Sorry if it's old news...

    Military Jumbo Jets For Fast Sale ( Posted by: "Coronet" [email protected])Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:38 am (PST)

    August 15, 2007: Want to buy a bunch of heavy lifters dirt-cheap? Russia is offering 21 An-124s for sale.These belonged to the Russian Air Force, and are considered underutilized
    and too expensive to maintain. In essence, this fire sale can land someone a nice airlift fleet, or help someone who currently has one, to supplement it
    very cheap. The An-124 is about the size of a U.S. C-5B, has a range of
    16,500 kilometers and can carry up to 122 tons. It cruises at 865 kilometers
    per hour. The Russians built 56 - with the last five airframes being
    completed earlier this decade.

    This is one of the best heavy-lift aircraft in the world, with 30 percent
    more range carrying the maximum payload than a C-5B Galaxy. While the Airbus A380F can carry 30 tons more, and has and about twice the range, it is not exactly designed to carry a lot of military cargos, like tanks or armored fighting vehicles. The same is true of the 747-400F freighter. The C-5 and An-124 have ramps in the stern and bow, allowing a crew to just drive the vehicle in and then drive it out when they get to the destination.

    The An-124 has carried a number of odd cargos. It was the plane used to
    ferry the EP-3 from Hainan Island after the 2001 crisis involving a
    collision with a Chinese J-8. It also was used to haul American helicopters
    to Afghanistan. It is also moved A380 and Boeing 777, while these aircraft
    were being built. In essence, if someone needs to haul about 150 tons, they usually turned to a leased An-124.

    NATO has six of these aircraft leased to supplement the airlift fleets of
    its member nations. It is a good bargain - the AN-124 can carry twice the
    cargo for less money. However, Russian support in the past has been iffy,
    and the aircraft has had four crashes (out of a fleet of 56). Compare that
    to five C-5s lost out of a fleet of 131 aircraft, and no losses for the C-17
    (with one surviving a SAM hit). With Antonov's efforts to develop support
    capabilities similar to those of Western aircraft manufacturers like
    Lockheed and Boeing, the 21 An-124s for sale will provide a boost to anyone looking for a credible airlift capability. Russia is selling four An-124s
    right away, apparently to see what the market will bear. The remaining 17
    will be sold before the end of the year. A new An-124 would cost about $200 million. A smaller American C-17 costs about $225 million.


    old article DATE:23/07/07
    SOURCE:Flight International
    Commercial operators bid to buy Russian air force's An-124 outsize
    freighters
    By Tom Zaitsev

    Several operators of the Antonov An-124 outsize freighters are expected to
    line up to acquire more of the type from the Russian military as it prepares
    to dispose of its An-124 fleet.
    Overall, the country's defence ministry has 21 units - more than one-third
    of 56 heavylift transports manufactured by airframers Aviant and Aviastar
    since 1982. It stopped using them in December 2005 when they were grounded
    at an air force base near Bryansk.
    Civilian models of the An-124 are now in service with five cargo carriers.
    Russia's Volga-Dnepr Airlines owns 10 modernised An-124-100s, while its
    compatriot carrier Polet and Ukraine's Antonov Airlines operate eight of
    them each.
    In 2002 Libyan Arab Air Cargo acquired two examples, one of which is
    understood to be leased out in 2004 to Maximus Air Cargo, based in the
    United Arab Emirates.
    Citing industry sources, Russian media reports claim that defence minister
    Anatoly Serdyukov has issued a directive to offer four heavylifters for sale
    shortly and the rest before the end of this year.
    Ilyushin Aviation Complex, which along with Aviastar is part of
    state-controlled United Aircraft (OAK), will act as a seller by proxy.
    According to its general director Viktor Livanov, the military will contract
    transport services involving the use of An-124s from freight specialists if
    it requires its own capacity.
    Although the technical state of the ex-air force aircraft is not clear,
    Volga-Dnepr vice-president Sergey Shklyanik expects intense competition for the freighters, given a lack of capacity in the outsize cargo market.
    "Conversion work on existing airframes is much cheaper than building such
    freighters from scratch," he argues.
    Livanov says Ilyushin has already received applications for the first batch
    of An-124s from Volga-Dnepr, Antonov Airlines, Atlant-Soyuz and Maximus Air Cargo.

  • #2
    Come on, DND Canada, you know you love 2nd hand equipment!

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    • #3
      Can it carry 787-sized fuselages? I'm sure if that's the case Boeing would be very interested, might also be a good alternative once Y1, the 737 successor comes on the market .

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      • #4
        Where do i sign up?

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        • #5
          Will they only sell the commercial operators? I think this could make a very nice NATO transport fleet, similar to the NATO AWACS fleet. The NATO forces already got loads of experience on the An124 since they charter it a lot. Buying them outright would save costs on the long run, assuming the state of the planes is not too bad.
          Please visit my website! http://www.schipholspotter.com/

          Don't make me use uppercase...

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