Antonov

Infobox_Company
company_name = Antonov ASTC
company_
company_type = State-owned company
company_slogan =
foundation =1946-05-31
location = Kiev, Ukraine
key_people = Oleg Antonov, founder
num_employees =
industry = Aerospace and defense
products = Transport aircraft Military aircraft
revenue =
homepage = [http://www.antonov.com/ antonov.com]

Antonov, or Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) ( _uk. Авіаційний науково-технічний комплекс імені Антонова, АНТК ім. Антонова), formerly the Antonov Design Bureau, is a Ukraine-based (since 1952) aircraft manufacturing and services company with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction.

Antonov ASTC is a state-owned commercial company.

History

The company is named after Oleg Antonov, its founder and head designer of An-2, An-24, An-22 and other legendary planes.

The Antonov company lacks facilities for full construction of some aircraft, a result of Soviet industrial strategy that split military production between different regions of the USSR. This distribution minimized potential war risks, and prevented Soviet republics from developing self-sufficient economies. As a result, Antonov airplanes were often constructed by aerospace companies in Kharkiv (Ukraine), Novosibirsk (Russia), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

Products and activities

Fields of commercial activity of Antonov ASTC include:
* Aircraft construction and manufacture
* Airfreight services (Antonov Airlines)
* Aircraft maintenance and upgrading
* Aerospace related engineering support
* Operation of the Gostomel airport (Antonov Airport)
* Trolley bus construction and manufacture (a spin-off, using existing technical expertise).

Aircraft

Antonov's airplanes (design office prefix An) range from the rugged An-2 biplane (which itself is comparatively large for a biplane) through the An-28 reconnaissance aircraft to the massive An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya strategic airlifters (the latter being the world's biggest aircraft in service but just one of it has been built). Whilst less famous, the An-24, An-26 and An-30 series of twin turboprop, high winged, passenger transport aircraft are important for domestic air services particularly in parts of the world once led by communist governments. The An-72/An-74 series of small jetliners is slowly replacing that fleet and a larger An-70 freighter is under certification. The An-70 is outwardly similar to the Airbus A400M design that has yet to fly in Western Europe.

Antonov An-148 is a brand new short-haul model similar to the British Avro RJ/Bae 146, though twin-jet configuration, awaiting Western certification. Over 150 aircraft has so far been launched since 2007, all of them by Russian and former East-bloc operators plus Cuba. A stretched version is proposed (from 60-70 to 90-100 passengers).

Gliders

* Antonov A-7
* Antonov A-13

ee also

* Antonov Airlines
* List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

External links

* [http://www.antonov.com/ Antonov ASTC]