The Ukrainian state enterprise “Antonov” and Airspace Industry Corporation of China   signed deals to cooperate on the construction of a new A-225 super-heavy transport aircraft based on An-225. This was reported by war.163.com.

It was agreed, at the first stage, to produce second modernized An-225 “Mriya” aircraft at the production site of State Enterprise “Antonov” with its subsequent delivery to Airspace Industry Corporation of China. In the second phase plans establish production sites of the new A-225 heavy lift aircraft in China.

The Chinese group plans to build two production sites, one in Luzhou in Sichuan Province, and the second in Guigang which lies 300km west of Guangzhou.

The new A-225 manufatcured in China, of which the first could come out of the assembly line in early 2019, will be mainly used for cargo transportation.

The Antonov An-225, initially developed for the task of transporting the Buran spaceplane, was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124. The An-225 is powered by six ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans (51,600 lbf each). The airlifter holds the world records for an airlifted total payload of more than 253 tons.

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