MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) – A new military transport plane will be put in service with Russia’s Baltic Fleet by the end of this year, a spokesman for the Western Military District said Wednesday.
The An-140-100 plane is a lightweight turboprop cargo aircraft designed by Ukraine’s Antonov bureau and manufactured under license in Russia by the Aviacor aviation plant in the Volga region.
“A group of naval aviation officers from the Baltic Fleet has departed to the Aviacor plant in Samara to inspect and accept the new An-140 military transport plane,” Capt. 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveyev said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said a total of eight An-140 planes will be put in service with all four Russian fleets. The navy received the first An-140 plane in April.
The plane, developed as a replacement for the outdated An-24 and An-26 cargo aircraft, can carry up to 6 metric tons of cargo for a range of over 2,000 kilometers, and can be used for patrol, military transport and spec-ops missions.
The Russian military has outlined plans to continue buying the An-140s to meet the pressing need for lightweight tactical cargo planes.
