An-124 Ruslan Replacement Takes Shape | Aviation International News

An-124 Ruslan Replacement Takes Shape

Russia's TsAGI has revealed more details of the Slon, a program to provide a potential successor to the An-124 heavy airlifter.

The VKS (Russian air and space force) operates around 20 An-124s. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)

By Vladimir Karnozov

February 4, 2019

The Kremlin is considering options to replace the Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavyweight airlifter for Russian military and civil operators. The new aircraft would be produced at the older type’s manufacturing line at the Aviastar-SP factory in Ulyanovsk. TsAGI—the Russian acronym for the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute—is offering a concept referred to as Slon (elephant). It features a new wing made of composite materials with a higher aspect ratio and a gross weight increase to 490 to 500 tonnes, of which 214 and 222 tonnes are the weight of the structure.

The proposal was announced at MAKS’2017, but shortly after that United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) denied having any firm plans relating to the new aircraft. Despite this, TsAGI has been detailing the initial concept. Last month the institute issued a statement that it had completed shaping an aerodynamic layout of a future freighter and made a scale model for wind tunnel testing, scheduled to be undertaken in August-September 2019.

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