Russia to Buy 60 An-70 Propfans

An-70 tactical transport aircraft

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

Russia's Military Transport Aviation (VTA) is to receive 60 Antonov An-70 propfan tactical transport aircraft by 2020, the service's commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Kachalkin said on Thursday.

"From 2014, we will start to get the Ilyushin Il-76-MD90A (Il-476) and also the modernized Il-76MD. We are also counting on getting the new An-70," he said.

The VTA will also take delivery of 25 Antonov An-124 super-heavy transport aircraft of various modifications by 2020, he said.

Russian military transport aviation does not intend to buy any foreign made aircraft, he added.

"Purchases of foreign equipment do not interest us, as Russian equipment meets our requirements," he said.

The Ukrainian-designed An-70, which is being built together with Russia, has had a long-running and troubled gestation, with one prototype crashing in the 1990's in a collision and a second crashing in 2001 in a take-off accident in Omsk. The aircraft also had a history of snags with its propfan engines.

Russia pulled out of the project in 2006, with Russia Air Force commander Vladimir Mikhailov stating it did not need the aircraft and would prefer the modernized Il-76, but it later rejoined the program.