History
The Antonov An-178 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-178) is a short-range medium-airlift military transport aircraft designed and produced by the Ukrainian Antonov company. Based on the Antonov An-158 (An-148-200), the project was announced on 5 February 2010. The first prototype was rolled out on 16 April 2015 and conducted its maiden flight on 7 May 2015.[2][3]
The An-178 is proposed to replace several outdated transport aircraft, such as the An-12, An-26 and An-32.[4] The aircraft will have an avionics suite similar to the Antonov An-148, and will use Progress D-436-148FM engines.[citation needed] The An-178 is a potential competitor for the Embraer C-390 from Brazil.[5] The company has planned to build more than 200 of the aircraft.[6]
Development
The An 178 project begun in 2009 as a self-financed venture of Antonov, having resolved to produce a direct successor to the company’s previous generation of transport aircraft produced during the Soviet era, including the An-12, An-26 and An-32.[4][7] It is aimed to be a replacement for aging international types such as the Transall C-160.[8] To this end, the company conducted market research to identify the contemporary requirements of the international aviation market as well as the specific needs of existing clients that determined such an aircraft should have its payload capacity optimised for the carriage of between 13 and 18 tonnes. During 2011, work on the detailed design commenced; company officials decided to base the new transport aircraft on the in-production An-148 and An-158 family
