The An-225, one of world’s largest aircraft, destroyed

Antonov Airlines’ An-225 Mriya aka “The Dream” was destroyed by Russian forces at Hostomel Airport (GML), according to a Feb. 27 statement by Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba. The Mriya, along with at least six other Antonov Airlines freighters, was parked at GML at the beginning of hostilities, with the airline confirming on social media that the aircraft had been at the location for maintenance. [caption id="attachment_417618" align="alignright" width="560"] The An-225 was one of a few Antonov aircraft destroyed during battles at GML.[/caption] The An-225 (19530503763) — the sole example of the type — was originally built for the Soviet Union in 1988 to carry the Buran space shuttle. Powered by six Ivchenko Progress Lotarev D-18T engines, it was the largest aircraft in the world until 2019, when an air-to-orbit aircraft dubbed “Roc” was completed by Scaled Composites for use by Stratolaunch. Demand for outsized cargo capacity in the 1990s resulted in the restoration of the Mriya in 2001. Since then, there have been a number of proposed investors to convert the aircraft into an air-to-orbit launch platform, but progress was delayed due to a number of parts manufactured in Russia being unavailable. As a post-Soviet cargo aircraft, the An-225’s first commercial flight was from Stuttgart, Germany to Thumrait, Oman, delivering more than 200,000 meals for U.S. military personnel. In 2020, the An-225 was tasked with airlifting medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), making several missions from China to various destinations. In the first week of February 2022, Myria departed GML for China, Kyrgyzstan and Denmark before returning to GML for a final time Feb. 5. On Feb. 24, Russian VDV paratroopers attacked the airport from helicopters in an effort to repurpose GML for Russian logistics for an assault on Kyiv. That force was defeated by Ukrainian armed forces who recaptured the airfield after bombardments with helicopters and SU-24 fighter bombers. At least one An-74 (36547030450) was destroyed by Russian forces in the first battle for the airport on Feb 24. CCTV images of GML show Mriya’s hangar being punctured by a missile, which started a fire. Satellite imagery of GML taken a few hours after the Feb. 24attack shows numerous Russian tanks and helicopters, as well as impact craters, fires and damage to the airport facility and Mriya’s hangar. According to local media reports, later that day, Zhytomyr Airport (ZTR) was targeted with an Iskander ballistic missile launched from Belarus. Five of Antonov Airlines’ An-124 fleet of fifteen aircraft were not in Ukraine at the time of the attack: Unit 19530501005 flew from Nagoya (NGO) to San Jose (SJO) via Anchorage (ANC) and Houston (IAH) on Feb. 27; Unit 19530501006 was in Cairns (CNS) on Feb. 28 after a round trip to Anderson (ANS); Unit 19530502288 was flown from Oslo (OSL) to Kaunas (KUN) on Feb. 27; Unit 19530502630 headed to Linz (LNZ) on Feb. 26; and Unit 9773053359136 has been in Leipzig (LEJ) since Feb. 25. Cargo Facts EMEA will take place LIVE May 9-11 in Dubai. Learn more and register.

The An-225, one of world’s largest aircraft, destroyed

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