An-122

Having appreciated the technical characteristics of the An-22 military transport turboprop aircraft, capable of taking off with a load of up to 88.45 tons, the United States decided to create an even more powerful aircraft as part of the competition in the Cold War . As a result, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy military transport turbojet appeared, which was significantly superior in cargo capacity. Taking into account this situation in the USSR, on July 21, 1966, the CPSU Central Committee issued a decree demanding to create an aircraft capable of carrying 100-120 tons of payload.

Directives were issued to the Kiev Mechanical Plant , according to which it was required to create a turbojet aircraft that surpassed the characteristics of an American competitor. The chief designer of the design bureau (Design Bureau) A. Ya. Belolipetskiy led a group of designers who initially considered projects with an arrow-shaped wing, T-shaped plumage, and also four turbojet engines, while the An-22 fuselage remained the same. Also, one of the project managers was N.M. Vorobyov, who headed the direction of drones in the 2nd half of the 2010s . ^{[1] [2]} Designated An-122, the new aircraft project allowed to carry 80 tons of cargo at a range of 3,500 km. In October 1967, O.K. Antonov and V.F. Eroshin submitted the project to the Military Industrial Commission under the Council of Ministers of the USSR , which was rejected because it did not give significant advantages compared to the An-22 and still lagged behind its American competitor . ^[3]

IL-106

• Yakubovich N.V. Military transport giant An-22 Antey. ^[four]
• Vovnyanko A. G. An-124 “Ruslan” Aircraft - the pinnacle of the achievements of the Collective and Man P. Balabuev ^[5]

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