Ukroboronprom confirms plans to rebuild Mriya aircraft
Ukraine has developed plans to rebuild one of the largest cargo aircraft, the An-225 Mriya, the only model of which was destroyed by Russia in the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
David Lomdzharia, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ukroboronprom, said this in a comment to Ukrinform on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.
"We know that the goal of the supervisor company is to rebuild this aircraft and demonstrate to the world that Ukraine is able to recreate this aircraft, which is legendary in the heavy transport industry," Lomdzharia said.
He added that he could not go into technical details or timelines regarding the Mriya's restoration.
"But yes, I can confirm that there are plans to do so," he said.
As reported, until 2022, the An-225 Mriya aircraft was the largest and most powerful transport aircraft in the world and carried out commercial flights. The AN-225 had a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes. In 2004, the International Aeronautical Federation listed Mriya in the Guinness Book of Records for 240 records it set.
At the end of February 2022, the AN-225 was destroyed in a hangar during the fighting for the Hostomel airport during the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.