New Build An-124

There have been a flurry of press comment on the possibility of the Russian military ordering new An124 aircraft to kick start the production of new build aircraft.

The comment mostly seeming to come from UAC President and CEO Alexei Fyodorov as well as the head of the Russian Air Force.  For an example see http://www.russiandefenseblog.org/?p=694

However, despite military aircraft and those of Rossiya being seen more frequently these days there is no mention of the maybe 40 aircraft that were in military service at the break up of the Soviet Union and subsequently mothballed.  These must surely be more cost effective for the military to put back into service.

Although some of the current commercial An-124 fleet are new build since that time the majority date from that era and began their lives with very early modification states.  So there is clearly no technical reason why they could not be upgraded to current standards.

It is also interesting to see Mr Fyodorov referring to the necessity for a military order before the whole program can begin.  With a $200 million dollar price tag and a cruising speed some 10% less than conventional aircraft due to the fundamental aerodynamics of a ramp loading airplane it is difficult to see even an upgraded An-124 being competitive in operating economics with competing aircraft.

So we complete the circle and large scale civil aircraft production is again dependent on the military picking up the tab to kick start the program. A typical US approach yet state subsidy as argued by Airbus.

It will be interesting to see what happens.