The World’s Largest Airplane Will Be Completed by China and Ukraine

As one of the biggest champions of aeronautics in the 20th century, the late Howard Hughes would’ve been proud of the recent news that China and the Ukraine have entered an agreement to restart production of the largest plane in the world, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya. Developed in the 1980s by Soviet manufacturer Antonov Design Bureau, the Mriya still reigns today as the largest—in the categories of length, wingspan, and weight—airplane ever to exist. And its statistics are staggering, even 30-odd years later: It measures 59 feet tall, 275 feet long, and bears a wingspan of 290 feet.

Prior to the announcement, only one AN-225 was ever completed and remains in operation today by Ukraine, most frequently commissioned by other nations (including the U.S.) for military cargo runs. Initially designed to service the Soviet space program as an airlifter—specifically to transport the famous Buran space shuttle—the aircraft is powered by six turbofan engines and can carry up to a whopping 272 tons of cargo (which is more weight than the Statue of Liberty).

China’s involvement is twofold: It will fund the completion of a partially built AN-225 whose construction was abandoned after the demise of the USSR while also beginning the steps to develop additional models of the large aircraft. Though it’s unclear at the moment how many additional aircrafts China plans to produce, the acquisition reflects the nation’s growing military presence around the world and its ensuing need for high-capacity transport.