The Antonov An-225 Mriya: How Ukraine Ended Up With the Heaviest Aircraft Ever Built

Video from the channel Megaprojects about Antonov An-225 Mriya, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:53. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Explainer piece on the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the heaviest aircraft ever built, of which only one example was completed. It covers its Soviet origins, its design, its second life as a commercial freighter and the project to finish a second airframe.

The aircraft was born at the Antonov design bureau in Kyiv to carry the Buran shuttle, weighing around 62 tonnes, to Baikonur: no Soviet aircraft could carry it, and the An-124 Ruslan could bear the weight but had no room for it. The Ministry of Defence commissioned it in 1985, based on the An-124. It was unveiled on 30 November 1988 and first flew on 21 December that year, with the Ukrainian name Mriya, "dream". In 1989 it appeared at the Paris Air Show carrying the Buran. The cancellation of the space programme and the collapse of the USSR left it without a mission, and it sat grounded for years until Antonov Airlines brought it back into service in 2001 with new engines and adapted for internal cargo.

It is 84 m long with an 88.4 m wingspan, 905 m² of wing area, six turbofans and 32 wheels. Its maximum take-off weight is 640 t and its cargo hold has a volume of 1,300 m³. Its records include carrying a 189 t generator to Armenia and, in 2020, the largest volume of air cargo ever carried, with medical supplies flown from China to Europe. According to Antonov, it would have remained in service until 2033. The second airframe, 60–70% complete, remained unfinished.