Russian Antonov-124 large freighteroperator Volga-Dnepr’s plans to relaunchthe Ruslan freighter haveadvanced with the signing of the firstpartner to a joint venture company.

Ukraine engine manufacturerMotor Sich has signed to join the companynamed Cargo Flight Vehicles tosupervise the programme.

Volga-Dnepr is leading the bid toresume production, beginning withthe modified An-124 100M-150.

Volga-Dnepr said other partners tojoin the management company wouldbe ZAO Aviastar-SP, Antonov DB,and Progress DB. It said modernisationand improvement of AN-124-100"operational quality" would improveits performance through significantchanges.

Payload capacity would be increasedto 150 tonnes and its servicelife would be extended to 60,000flying hours, with further extensionpossible to 80,000 hrs. Flight andnavigation systems would also bedramatically renewed.

Flight range with 120t payload willbe increased to 5000km, with a numberof crew reduced to four.

Aircraft manufacture is to becarried out at the Ulyanovsk-basedAviastar-SP factory according to specificationdeveloped by Antonov DB. AnAntonov DB affiliate at Aviastar-SP willundertake design function, incorporationof changes in the AN-124 type design,and development of newer type versions,Volga-Dnepr said.

As the world’s largest operatorof Ruslan freighters andthe main customer of the type, it has placed firm order for two AN-124-100-150s with the Ulyanovsk-basedfactory.

– John Spiers