Byggingen av An-74 gjenopptas - Curt Lewis

Ukraine to renew serial production of An-74 aircraft

KIEV, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine will renew the serial production of the flagman Soviet-designed An-74 aircraft, the country's defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom announced on Monday.

The Ukroboronprom has reached an investment agreement worth 150 million U.S. dollars on the aircraft production with the U.S.-based Oriole Capital Group, the Ukrainian defense conglomerate said in a statement on its website.

The deal was achieved during the ongoing 15th international exhibition Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates, the statement said.

According to the agreement, Ukraine will launch the An-74 production at the facilities of the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company in eastern Ukraine.

For its part, the Oriole Capital Group will inject funds in the modernization and the production of the aircraft and ensure its sales.

The An-74 multipurpose aircraft was designed by Ukraine's state-run aircraft manufacturing company Antonov in early 1980s.

The East European country has manufactured 81 planes before the production was suspended in 2015.

The An-74 is a medium-sized aircraft capable of carrying up to 10 people in the transport version and 52 people in the passenger version.

The aircraft has a payload capacity of up to 10 tons with a maximum speed of 700 kilometers per hour.

The market value of the plane is estimated at between 10 million U.S. dollars and 17 million dollars. Enditem