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Mriya, the world's largest plane will be rebuilt

The Antonov AN-225 Mriya was the largest cargo aircraft in the world and the only aircraft equipped with six turbofan engines. The aircraft was a marvel of modern engineering, capable of carrying up to 250 tonnes of cargo, including individual pieces of up to 200 tonnes, on short and medium-haul routes.

Ukraine therefore plans to rebuild the Mriya cargo plane ('The Dream'), the heaviest aircraft ever flown, which was destroyed by Russian forces in the early days of last year's invasion. Workers are currently salvaging parts from the wreckage to be used in its reconstruction.

The AN-225 Mriya was originally tasked with carrying the space shuttle for the Soviet space programme (the Buran spaceplane) and made its international debut in absolute style by landing at the 1989 Paris Air Show with the shuttle on its back

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A unique specimen
The Antonov AN-225 Mriya ('The dream' in English), the world's largest aircraft, was destroyed. For months, aviation enthusiasts and specialist publications around the globe have been following the plight of this very special aircraft. The AN-225 is one of a kind and is based at the Antonov factory at Hostomel Airport, north-west of Kiev (Ukraine), the scene of violent clashes throughout the day on 24 February 2022. It was destroyed by Russian forces only a few days after the invasion. .
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The announcement of a new "dream"
The AN-225 aircraft manufacturer had recently announced that design work on a brand new AN-225 “Mriya” had already begun, and construction of this new design would cost about 500 million.
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The statements
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. "According to the available expert assessment, there are currently about 30 per cent of the components that can be used for the planned second aircraft. The cost of building the aircraft is estimated to be at least 500 million euros."
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History
The Antonov AN-225 Mriya was a unique transport aircraft originally built during the Soviet era to transport Soviet spacecraft. For some 34 years, the aircraft remained the world's largest transport aircraft and has served as the backbone of the Antonov Airlines fleet since 2002.
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So many records
The extraordinary aircraft set more than 200 records during its lifetime. Among them were the airlift of the largest load and the flight of the longest load. When not fully loaded, the Mriya had a claimed range of almost 10,000 miles. Roughly the distance between the cities of New York in the United States and Sydney in Australia.
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An exclusive detail
In the Antonov AN-225 Mriya there were 20 steered wheels in the 32-wheel landing gear. The front undercarriage housed 4 steering wheels and the other 16 were at the rear of the 18-wheel main undercarriage.
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Curiosities
It was originally planned that two of these Mriya aircraft would be built, but only one could be completed. Work on the second airframe was abandoned in 2009. The company later faced financial difficulties and the production of another aircraft would have required USD 300 million. Moreover, there was simply no demand for another aircraft of that type.
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Rumors
After the giant aircraft was damaged in early 2022, there is finally a need for another Mriya. There are rumours that the new AN-225 Mriya will be equipped with brand new components and others repurposed from the original aircraft. We await the future 'the dream'.
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