Indian Chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal S Dhanoa was impressed by the capabilities of the new Ukrainian AN-132 aircraft, according to SpetsTechnoExport.

“After watching a demo flight of the AN-132 Light Transport Aircraft, Indian Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa expressed interest and personally oversaw the plane during the international exhibition Aero India 2019″, it said in a statement.

During Aero India 2019 exhibition in Bangalore, Antonov company has unveiled a prototype transport aircraft that it claims can compete with Airbus C295 and Leonardo C-27J range. The latest Ukrainian multi-purpose transport aircraft, called the AN-132D, took to the skies and showcased its capabilities wowing the crowd with a series of high- and low-speed maneuvers.

Exhibition’s visitors were particularly impressed by an unexpected aerial maneuver – barrel roll when a plane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction, like a fighter aircraft.

The AN-132 is designed to carry up to 9.2t of cargo at altitudes up to 28,000ft. It comes equipped with a suite of updated technologies, including Dowty propellers and a Liebherr air management system.

Due to improved aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft its relative fuel consumption per kilometer is 4.7% less compared to AN-32. Besides, the AN-132’s fuel tanks have more capacity. Due to this, the flight range was increased.

During this international event, the Ukrainian side is promoting AN-132 transport aircraft as a potentially replaced for AN-32 fleet of the Indian Air Force in the future.

It should be noted that during the Aero India 2019 exhibition there was held a series of negotiations with companies that are ready to act as local partners of Ukrainian enterprises in the production of AN-132 for the needs of the Air Force of India.