Antonov An-32


The Antonov An-32 is a turboprop twin-engined military transport aircraft. Its first flight was in July 1976 and displayed at the 1977 Paris Air Show. It is oriented towards flying in adverse weather conditions, and was produced from 1980 to 2012, and remains in service. It is the fourth member of the Antonov An-24 family, succeeding the An-24, An-30 and An-26, and coming before the cancelled An-132.

Design and development

The An-32 is essentially a re-engined An-26. It is designed to withstand adverse weather conditions better than the standard An-26. Announced at the May 1977 Paris Air Show, the An-32 is distinguished from its predecessor by engines raised 1.5 m above the wing in order to avoid foreign object damage on rough, unprepared airstrips.
The type features high-lift wings with automatic leading-edge slats, large triple-slotted trailing edge flaps and an enlarged tailplane and a very large increase in power, giving improved take-off performance and service ceiling. The high placement of the engine nacelles above the wing allowed for larger diameter propellers, which are driven by 5,100 hp rated Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines, providing almost twice the power of the An-26's AI-24 powerplants.
Production from the Government Aircraft Factory in Kyiv, has included 123 aircraft for the Indian Air Force, which ordered the aircraft under strong foreign relations between then USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and then India leader Indira Gandhi.
The majority of production has been for the Russian and Ukrainian Air Forces, with around 40 per year being built during the late 1980s to early 1990s. The estimated price for a modernised An-32 version is 15 million US dollars.
The last An-32 was produced in 2012.

Operational history

The An-32 has outstanding takeoff characteristics in hot and high conditions, up to and elevation, and is suitable for use as a medium tactical military transport roles as well as commercial roles. Operating as a cargo transport over the short and medium range air routes, the An-32 is suitable for air-dropping cargo, passenger carrying, medevac, firefighting, skydiving or paratrooping roles.
The An-32 entered service in the 1980s and served with the air forces of Ukraine, Russia, Bangladesh Air Force, the Indian Air Force, the Iraqi Air Force, the Mexican Air Force and the Sudanese Air Force.
In 2014, the Iraqi Air Force used its An-32B as bombers against the ISIS in response to the Islamic State invasion of Iraq.

Variants

An-32 : Twin-engined transport aircraftAn-32A : The first civil variant, the majority of the 36 aircraft built were delivered to various government factory enterprises, for use in transporting assemblies between plants.An-32B : Improved versionAn-32B-100 : Modernised version of the An-32B. Maximum takeoff weight increased to 28.5 tons, payload increased to 7.5 tons.An-32B-110 : New avionics allowing aircraft to be operated by two crew members. Metric avionics variant.An-32B-120 : Imperial avionics variant of An-32B-110.An-32B-300 : Version fitted with Rolls-Royce AE 2100 turboprop engines, providing 4,600 hp each.An-32LL : The An-32 first prototype was equipped with a large SV-36P eight-bladed propeller and D-236 engine on the port side for testing, in place of the standard engine and propeller. The increased noise produced by the experimental installation outweighed the modest gains in performance.An-32MP : Marine Patrol version.An-32P Firekiller : Aerial firefighting version. Special category type certificate granted on 10 March 1995. A total of eight tons of liquid can be discharged from the two external tanks simultaneously or one after the other. Drops are conducted at 40–50 m above ground level and 240 to 260 km/h. Can be used as a cargo aircraft when not fighting fires.An-32V-200 : A tactical transport/cargo aircraft outgrowth from the An-32B-100, with more modern avionics allowing two crew operation. Intended for export; despite reasonable interest few have been sold.An-32 RE : Modernised version of the An-32B. MTOW increased to 28.5 tons, payload increased to 7.5 tons. New avionics.

Operators

Military operators

Besides aircraft in service in the Ukrainian and Russian Air Forces, more than 240 An-32 aircraft are being operated in various countries around the world.

Former military operators

Civil operators

In July 2016, a total of 25 Antonov An-32 aircraft remained in airline service. The largest operator was Aero Transporte S.A of Peru with four aircraft. Some 16 other airlines operated smaller numbers of the type.

Accidents and incidents