Antonov An-225

shuttle

The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Антонов Ан-225 Мрия, NATO reporting name: Cossack) is a strategic airlift transport airplane that was built by Antonov (ASTC). It was designed for the Soviet space program, as a replacement for the Myasishchev M-4 'Bison', for the purpose of carrying the Energia rocket's boosterss and to also be able to carry the Buran space shuttle in piggy-back mode (see Captive carry), much the same as the American Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Mriya (Мрия) means "dream" (as in aspiration) in Ukrainian.

The An-225 is an extension of the earlier An-124 design. The following items were changed:

Fuselage barrel extensions before and behind wings

Wing root extensions

Two extra engines, both on the wing root extensions

No rear ramp/door assembly

32-wheel landing gear system

Two vertical stabilizers offset from the centerline, and an oversized horizontal stabilizer, as opposed to the smaller horizontal stabilizer and single centerline vertical stabilizer of the An-124

The An-225 first flew on 21 December 1988. Only one An-225 is currently in service. It is commercially available for carrying ultra heavy and/or oversize freight. It can carry up to 227 metric tons (250 short tons) of cargo. A second An-225 was partially built—in connection with the Soviet space program—but was never finished. This unit is finally nearing completion as of 2005. The construction of further units will depend upon demand for outsize cargolifting.

At 600 metric tons, the An-225 is the world's heaviest aircraft ever, although its wingspan is less than that of the "Spruce Goose", Howard Hughes' flying boat, which never went beyond a single short low-altitude test flight. Both the An-124 and An-225 are larger than the C-5 Galaxy, the largest aircraft in the U.S. inventory.

In November of 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records and overall outstanding aerial performance.