In 1976, the Soviet authorities began creating a reusable space system called Energia-Buran. It included the heavy-class launch vehicle Energia and the orbital ship Buran. The latter began to be assembled in 1980, and its first and only flight took place eight years later. Buran was launched into space by a disposable Energia rocket. It could not fly over the landing site on its own. A new aircraft, the largest in the world, was supposed to solve this problem.
Ukrainian News Agency will tell you how the Ukrainian Mriya was born, what records it set, how it was destroyed, and whether there is a hope for its restoration.
Members of the French rescue team unload 150 tons of humanitarian aid from Mriya for earthquake victims in Japan, March 25, 2011
Mriya was supposed to carry not only Buran, but also everything that was needed for its maintenance. It was planned that the aircraft would be able to carry in the fuselage or on its back the central module of the Energia launch vehicle, the reusable aerospace system Buran and other cargo, like its American counterpart Boeing 747 SCA, designed to transport shuttles.
The development of this aircraft was entrusted to the Kyiv design bureau Antonov, which had previously created the world's largest serial aircraft An-124 Ruslan.
Meeting dedicated to the completion of the construction of the An-225 Mriya aircraft at the Kyiv Aviation Production Association (now the State Enterprise Antonov), November 1988.
Already in 1983-1984, there was an approximate image of the future Mriya - a working version of the project. And in 1985, direct development began. In fact, Mriya was planned as an enlarged and modified Ruslan. But at the same time, it was supposed to be a unique aircraft - the largest in the world, and, as it later turned out, the only one of its kind. The second copy has remained unfinished.
The aircraft was built in Kyiv. The general designer was Petro Balabuyev, the chief designer was Viktor Tolmachov, and the leading designer was Anatolii Vovnianko.
In late 1988, the An-225, as the aircraft was officially called, rolled out of the assembly shop of the Oleg Antonov Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex. The aircraft was named Mriya [Dream]. Its dimensions were impressive: length - 84 meters, wingspan - 88 meters, height - 18 meters. Weight - 250 tons, and the cargo compartment could accommodate another 250 tons. Above it was a passenger cabin for 70 people. The bow hatch opened for loading, and the process took only 7 minutes.
The An-225 Mriya aircraft near the hangar, November 30, 1988.
Mriya made its first flight on December 21, 1988. Despite the snow, the aircraft performed flawlessly. After landing, test pilot Oleksandr Halunenko said: "If all aircraft are made like Mriya, then the testers will have nothing to do".
However, Mriya was never used to service Buran, because this space program was curtailed. In the early years, the main task of Mriya was to demonstrate the capabilities of the largest aircraft in the world. A memorable flight was to the Le Bourget air show with Buran on its back. This was the first appearance of the aircraft before the eyes of the international public. Mriya flew to Paris and became the main star of the air show.
After the collapse of the USSR, the largest aircraft in the world stood in the open air at the airfield. Mriya became a donor for other aircraft. Its engines and individual units of onboard equipment were removed from it to be used on Ruslan - related aircraft.
Finally, in the late 1990s, it became clear that the aircraft could be used on a commercial basis. The Antonov enterprise began to receive requests for the transportation of cargo that was too heavy even for the An-124. Foreign customers were interested in the capabilities of Mriya to transport heavy and oversized cargo: generators, turbines, locomotives.
The An-225 Mriya aircraft with Buran caused a real sensation at the 38th International Aerospace Salon in Le Bourget, France, in June 1989.
So, in Hostomel, Mriya was reconstructed, making it a more modern aircraft designed for commercial transportation around the world. On May 7, 2001, its first flight after modernization took place. As 13 years before, Oleksandr Halunenko again became the test pilot. Mriya made its first commercial flight in the interests of the United States - from Stuttgart to the Kingdom of Oman with a cargo of 187.5 tons of food for the American military stationed in the country.
Later, Mriya transported:
- a generator weighing 174 tons from Frankfurt to Yerevan,
- windmill blades 42 meters long from China to Denmark,
- an electric generator weighing 130 tons from Prague to Australia,
- two tram cars from China to Turkey,
- 12 large generators for a thermal power plant on 12 consecutive flights from Chile to Bolivia.
A model of the aerospace system, including the Mriya aircraft and the reusable Interim HOTOL spacecraft of British Aerospace, 1990.
Mriya is the heaviest aircraft ever to fly. On March 22, 1989, in almost four hours of flight with a load of 156 tons, Mriya set 110 world records in terms of load capacity, speed and flight altitude. This in itself is an unprecedented event in the history of world aviation. And in 11 years, on September 11, a Ukrainian plane broke another 124 world records, including lifting a load weighing 253 tons to a height of 10,000 meters. On June 10, 2010, the plane transported the longest air cargo in history - the same two windmill blades from China to Denmark.
An-225 Mriya at the Farnborough International Air Show, Great Britain, 1990.
And once, Mriya turned into the world's highest art gallery. 500 paintings by 120 Ukrainian artists were exhibited in the cargo compartment, while the plane rose to 10,000 meters.
Not records, but incredibly impressive events were the flights of Mriya over Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv during the parades of 2001, 2009 and 2021.
On February 24, 2022, a full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine began. Hostomel airport immediately became one of the main targets of the occupiers. It was planned to use it as a springboard for landing troops to capture Kyiv. On February 27, during the battles for Hostomel airport, the An-225 Mriya aircraft was destroyed in its hangar.
At the time of the invasion, Mriya was undergoing maintenance and therefore did not have time to leave the territory of Ukraine. The German publication Bild reports that the Antonov enterprise planned to evacuate the aircraft to the airport in Leipzig, but the corresponding order was never received.
As of August 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has completed the investigation into the destruction of Mriya. The suspects are former employees of the Antonov enterprise: Director General Serhii Bychkov and Head of the Aviation Security Unit Oleksandr Netiosov. According to the investigation, on the eve of the full-scale invasion, they did not allow Ukrainian military personnel, who were supposed to prepare to protect the facility, to enter the airport territory.
Meanwhile, the destroyed Mriya has again become a donor, just like 30 years ago. Its two engines are used on Ruslan aircraft based in Leipzig and performing commercial transportation. For example, they deliver military engineers from the Netherlands to Iraq, and Polish-made helicopters to the Philippines.
But Mriya continues to fly. So far, only as a digital copy for a well-known computer simulator. However, there is hope that Mriya will reappear in reality. The fact is that more than 35 years ago, not one, but two An-225 aircraft were laid up. The second copy is the fuselage, wings and part of the tail, which were stored in the hangar all this time.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in the new version of the Microsoft Flight Simulator game, there will be an opportunity to learn how to fly the An-225 Mriya aircraft. The Antonov State Enterprise has concluded a corresponding agreement with the game developers.
The SSU has completed the investigation into the destruction of the Mriya aircraft and collected evidence of the guilt of former officials of the Antonov State Enterprise - the Director General and head of the Aviation Safety Unit.
On March 19, the commander of the An-225 Mriya crew, Dmytro Antonov, stated that the Mriya aircraft was not saved due to the inaction of the management of the Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv).
The SSU established all the circumstances of the destruction of the An-225 Mriya aircraft and why the management of the Antonov State Enterprise did not take all necessary measures to preserve it.
In February, the russian military destroyed the An-225 Mriya aircraft at the airfield in Hostomel (Kyiv Region).
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