Antonov An-178

The Antonov An-178 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-178) is a short-range medium-airlift military transport aircraft designed by the Ukrainian Antonov company and based on the Antonov An-158 (An-148-200). It was announced on February 5th 2010, rolled out on April 16th, 2015 and the first flight was on May 7th, 2015.

The An-178 is proposed to replace outdated aircraft like the Antonov An-12, Antonov An-26 and Antonov An-32. The aircraft will have avionics suite similar to the An-148, and will use Progress D-436-148FM engines.

The An-178 is a potential competitor for the Alenia C-27J Spartan from Italy, EADS CASA C-295 from Spain, Lockheed Martin C-130J from the United States, Embraer KC-390 from Brazil and the Ilyushin/HAL Il-214 from the Russian Federation. The company plans to build more than 200 of the aircraft.

On 18 December 2015, Antonov and Тaqnia Aeronautics signed a Memorandum to deliver thirty An−178s to the Royal Saudi Air Force. Taqnia's President, Ali Mohammed Al−Ghamdi, noted that the An-178 had been selected because "its price and low operational costs are important advantages in comparison with other airplanes of this class".

Users

 * Iraq
 * Iraqi Air Force x 5
 * Iraqi Army x 2
 * Saudi Arabia
 * Royal Saudi Air Force x 30 on order

Related Development

 * Antonov An-148

Comparable Aircraft

 * Embraer KC-390
 * Ilyushin/HAL Il-214