The world's largest cargo plane was reported destroyed in Ukraine. See the full history of the famous six-engine jet.
Thomas Pallini,Taylor Rains
An Antonov An-225 Mriya.GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
- The Antonov An-225 was the world's largest cargo plane, armed with six engines and a massive cargo hold.
- However, after over 30 years of service, the plane was reportedly destroyed in Ukraine after a Russian attack.
Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, confirmed the destruction of the mammoth An-225 Mriya following a Russian attack. The beloved plane was one-of-a-kind and built by Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov.
An-225. Real_life_Studio/Shutterstock
"Russia may have destroyed our 'Mriya'," Kuleba tweeted on Sunday. "But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!"
Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. GLEB GARANICH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Source: Dmytro Kuleba
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was a unique aircraft in the skies. If a standard cargo plane is comparable to a flying tractor-trailer, the Mriya was a flying cargo ship, thanks to its size and payload capacity.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
The oversized plane was first commissioned by the Soviet Union to transport the communist state's newest spacecraft, the Buran Space Shuttle.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. Thiago B Trevisan / Shutterstock.com
Source: Antonov Airlines and CNN
The Buran program was aimed at matching the US' newly formed space shuttle program, as seen with a similar look to NASA's space shuttle. The Soviet Union, however, didn't have a way to get the new ship to the launchpad, located in Soviet Kazakhstan.
A Buran space shuttle. Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters
Source: Antonov Airlines and CNN
While NASA simply strapped its space shuttle to the top of a Boeing 747 for long-range transport...
A NASA Boeing 747 carrying a space shuttle. Reuters
The Soviet Union had to commission an entirely new aircraft to carry the Buran, which it hoped would later act as an aerial launching platform.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Source: Antonov Airlines and Antonov
Antonov, at the time, was one of the Soviet Union's primary aircraft manufacturers and had a focus on cargo planes.
An Antonov An-124 Ruslan. abdul hafiz ab hamid/Shutterstock
Source: Antonov
The An-225 Mriya was developed from the smaller An-124 Ruslan, a four-engine cargo plane featuring a similar design.
An Antonov An-124 Ruslan. Oleksandr Naumenko / Shutterstock.com
Source: Antonov
Production of the oversized cargo bird at the behest of the Soviet government took three years, starting in the mid-1980s.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya fuselage. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Source: Antonov Airlines
Design consideration was given to the idea of transporting the Russian space shuttle, as seen with the twin-tail configuration designed to capture the airflow from around any vehicle placed on top of the aircraft.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. GRpic / Shutterstock.com
Source: Antonov Airlines
With the collapse of the Soviet Union coming shortly after the Mriya's production, however, the aircraft's original mission to carry Russian space shuttles soon evaporated and it was free to take on cargo charters full-time starting in 2001.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. Stringer/Reuters
Source: Antonov Airlines
As a result, its external carrying capabilities went largely unused.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Cargo was loaded through the front of the aircraft as the nose could open up, allowing for the easy loading and unloading of cargo straight in and out.
An-225 cargo loading and unloading. roibu/Shutterstock
Source: Insider
Its oversized cargo hold, which measured 141 feet by 21 feet by 14.5 feet, was ideal for carrying the most obscure objects whether it be massive wind turbine blades...
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. OPIS Zagreb / Shutterstock.com
Source: Insider
...50 cars...
Inside the An-225 cargo hold. Ronny Hartmann / AFP) (Photo by RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images
...or a military tank.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. Stringer/Reuters
Its hold could be stuffed with more than 550,000 pounds of cargo, nearly double that of the Boeing 747-8 freighter.
Atlas Air 747-8 cargo loading. Thomas Frey/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: Antonov Airlines and UPS Airlines
Every aspect of the Mriya was unique with six Motor Sich D-18T engines instead of the two, three, or four found on a standard cargo aircraft.
This picture shows the wing and three of the six turbofans of the Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya. Francois Nascimbeni/AFP/Getty Images
Meanwhile, the plane had 32 wheels total, including four under the nose, to steer the massive feat of engineering.
An-225 wheels. ACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images
Source: Insider
When not fully loaded, the Mriya had a reported range of nearly 10,000 miles, the equivalent of the distance between New York and Sydney, Australia.
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Source: Antonov
When it was weighed down, however, that came down to just under 3,000 miles — still enough to fly across the continent of Europe or from New York to Los Angeles.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. VALENTYN OGIRENKO/Reuters
Source: Popular Mechanics
During its history, the impressive plane broke over 200 records, including airlifting the world's heaviest freight and transporting by air the world's longest cargo.
Indian Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and airport personnel stand near the world's largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya, at Rajiv Gandhi International airport in Hyderabad on May 13, 2016. Noah Sheelam/AFP via Getty Images
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Antonov retained control of its flagship aircraft, controlled by subsidiary Antonov Airlines that chartered the behemoth out to customers around the world. According to the BBC, the plane costs around $30,000 per hour to charter.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
Source: BBC
Only one of the type was ever produced, though Antonov partnered with a Chinese company to restart production in 2016.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. kamilpetran / Shutterstock.com
Source: CNBC
A second plane was started but was since left unfinished. The 70%-complete airframe sits in a Ukrainian warehouse near Kyiv.
Ukrainian Antonov An-225 "Mriya" aircraft is seen in the assembly shop of the Antonov aircraft plant in Kiev, Ukraine on September 07, 2016. Vladimir Shtanko/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Source: CNN
The Mriya's cockpit was located above the main cargo bay to give the aircraft as much capacity as possible for freight.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. DigitalHand Studio / Shutterstock.com
Having been built during the Soviet era when aircraft technology was still developing, the antiquated cockpit was cavernous and required pilots and extra flight engineers to operate the plane.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya cockpit. Andreas Psaltis / Shutterstock.com
Four flight engineers, with two on each side of the cockpit, monitored the countless instruments and gauges to ensure the aging plane functioned safely.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya cockpit. Andreas Psaltis / Shutterstock.com
The An-225 was in maintenance for two years until 2020 when it reentered service to ferry medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
Source: Antonov
In spring 2020, the plane flew from Tianjian, China to Warsaw, Poland with a 100-ton payload, which included face masks, COVID-19 tests, and other personal protective equipment.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya cockpit. AGENCJA GAZETA/Reuters
Source: Antonov
In one of the largest cargo shipments of the pandemic, crates, pallets, and boxes were stored from floor to ceiling in the six-engine jet.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya cockpit. Antonov Company
Source: Antonov
Antonov's "Dream" joined the massive flotilla of aircraft dedicated to transporting invaluable supplies to the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya cockpit. Alla Greeg / Shutterstock.com
The oversized aircraft joined the likes of the Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifter...
A Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifter. Thiago B Trevisan / Shutterstock.com
And an Airbus A380 operated by charter airline Hi Fly in a worldwide airlift of people, goods, and supplies.
An Airbus A380 operated by Hi Fly. VanderWolf Images / Shutterstock.com
While the An-225's two-year maintenance overhaul was supposed to ensure it continued to fly until at least 2033, Russian air missiles cut its life short.
An Antonov An-225 Mriya. GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
When Russia attacked Ukraine on February 25, the plane was undergoing repair and could not leave the country, leaving it vulnerable to Russian attacks.
Truck loading the An-225. Jose Luis Stephens/Shutterstock
Source: Insider
The plane was destroyed at Antonov Airport, also known as Hostomel Airport, in Ukraine after flying its last flight on February 5. US-funded media organization Radio Liberty shared satellite images showing the aircraft in flames.
Smoke rises near the town of Gostomel and the Antonov Airport, in northwest Kyiv. - Russian and Ukrainian forces are battling for control of an airbase on the northern outskirts of Kyiv Daniel LEAL/ Getty Images
Source: Radio Liberty
According to Ukrainian state defense company Ukroboronprom, rebuilding the plane would take over five years and cost upwards of $3 billion.
A Bundeswehr soldier unloads from an Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo airplane boxes with protective masks delivered from China on April 27, 2020, at the airport of Leipzig in eastern Germany. RONNY HARTMANN/AFP Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images
Source: Insider
"Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine's aviation and air cargo sector," Ukroboronprom said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy standing in front of the world's largest airplane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya. Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Source: Ukroboronprom
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