An-140 should be certified by early 2000 according to Antonov

Published: 9/10/1999

According to ANTK Antonov, certification of the An-140 is expected in early 2000. Of the two operable prototypes which have been flying certification trials since August of 1998 after flying for the first time in September 1997 , the first is currently undergoing high ambient temperatures trials in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The engines are a turboprop version of the Klimov TV3-117VMA, the SMB1, in use on the Ka-32 helicopter, built jointly by Klimov, ZMKB Progress and Motor Sich. This engine was certified to FAR29 requirements by Canadian Transportation Ministry in 1998. The main assembly line is at KhAPO in Kharkov and it is expected that the first airframe should be ready to fly during September 1999. A second assembly line is being set up at Aviakor's Samara factory and a third under licence as the IAMI Iran 140, by state-owned Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries (IAMI), at the new Shakir factory in Isfahan, with Ukrainian assistance. The Iranian agreement, signed in 1996, allows HESA to assemble 12 aircraft a year, with a steady move to locally produced parts. Iranian airframes may be fitted with Klimov TV7-117S, as Iran acquired a licence to build these locally, but other sources, including IAMI and Antonov, have said that the aircraft will be powered with uprated TV3-1117VMA-SMB1s. To date, orders for the Iranian version of the aircraft have come from Iran Air and Iran Asseman Airlines. Elsewhere, Ukrainian Airlines signed a letter of intent for 40 aircraft in 1997 and the Russian region of Sakha-Yakutia ordered 15 in mid-1998.The cost of the aircraft is reported to be in the area of $8m for the Klimov-powered aircraft, but may be more for the P&W127A version, currently under development. The aircraft is targeted as a replacement for the ageing An-24 and Yak-40 fleets of Russia and the CIS and potentially has a replacement market of 600 aircraft plus by 2010 according to Antonov.

Article ID: 854