After more than a year of the invasion by Russian forces in Ukraine, which resulted in the destruction of the largest airplane in the world, the An-225, its dismantling still continues. The aircraft, one of the greatest symbols of the Soviet Union, was destroyed during the Moscow-led attack on Gostomel Airport, in the metropolitan region of Kyiv.
The only operational unit of the Antonov An-225 Mriya was destroyed around February 27, 2022 (the exact date is still unknown), and since then, it has remained under the structure of its gigantic hangar in Gostomel, the main hub of Antonov Airlines, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
After several months of war and an investigation conducted by local authorities, Antonov began to dismantle the aircraft. The process is lengthy, as the company evaluates which parts could still be reused in the future, although no plans for rebuilding the enormous equipment have been confirmed so far, despite several options being considered at various times.
Meanwhile, parts of the aircraft, such as the powerful Progress D-18T engines, were transferred to the older and smaller sibling, the An-124 Ruslan, whose project was modified to become the An-225, even in the Soviet era.
Ukrainian State Enterprise "Antonov" has started dismantling the remains of the An-225 #Mriya aircraft destroyed by the Russians at #Hostomel Airport in February 2022.
Specialists remove the preserved parts. These parts could help build a new version of the aircraft, should such… pic.twitter.com/g6WEiYck30
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) August 16, 2023
Why Is There Only One Antonov An-225?
Few people knew that a second An-225 was started to be built. However, with the end of the Cold War, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the changing ambitions of Eastern European countries, the project stopped, and the second An-225 became a simple “dream.”
The enormous metal carcass, which Antonov revealed was 70% complete, was placed inside a huge building at the airport near Kiev and remained there for decades. Although it was possible to finish it, there was never any interest due to the costs involved, which could exceed 500 million dollars, including a necessary update in design and the completion of assembly.
Another factor that contributed to the stagnation of the second unit was the idea that it would be useless, as the first model fulfilled its new function as an ultra-large cargo plane.
In 2016, China even signed an agreement with Antonov to resume production of the second aircraft, which was to be completed in 2019, but then the attempt did not come to fruition, again due to profitability. Turkey also showed interest, but it remained only in the realm of ideas.
