Story ID: 1018Antonov
An-70 Spools Up Again
By: Neelam Mathews
Caption: 
Word Count: 155
The new short takeoff and landing Antonov An-70 military transporter will soon complete joint state testing, according to Dmytro Kiva, Antonov president and general designer and academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The An-70’s noise certification has been issued, he added.

The An-70 is a four-engine freighter with contra-rotating propellers, optimized for operations from unpaved runways from 600 to 700 meters in length while hauling a cargo payload of up to 20 tons more than 1,600 nm. Kiva compares the An-70 to the Airbus Military A400M, “with the only difference being in the tail.” Typical An-70 loads include 300 fully equipped troops or 206 ill and/or wounded personnel. The An-70’s high-lift coefficient wing allows it to fly extremely slowly, around 54 knots, which aids in the air-dropping of cargo and paratroops “with less scatter than any counterpart flying at [86 to 108 knots] to enjoy a pinpoint accuracy touchdown,” according to the company.