KYIV: Ukroboronprom, the Ukrainian state armaments maker, reported on Sunday that a Russian strike on Hostomel airport near Kyiv had destroyed the world’s largest freight jet, the Antonov-225 Mriya.
“The Russian invaders destroyed Ukraine’s most famous plane, the An Mriya, in a bombing raid. In Hostomel, near Kyiv, an Antonov airstrip was bombed ,”In a post on its Facebook page, Ukroboronprom claimed.
They predicted an extensive and expensive repair of the airliner to cost more than $3 billion.
The Soviet Union’s Antonov Design Bureau developed the world’s largest plane, the AN-225 Mriya, in the 1980s for strategic airlift freight.
Two or four jet engines typically power commercial airliners. However, there are six on the Mriya. To put it another way, its wingspan is longer than five 53-foot semi-truck trailers stacked one on top of another.
Although the Wright Brothers made history in 1903, Mriya has a cargo hold that’s longer than that of their plane. At takeoff, it can carry a maximum weight of 640 tonnes. The Statue of Liberty weighs almost half as much as this. Mriya’s huge landing gear is equipped with 32 wheels in order to handle the massive weight.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]