REUTERS
Russian engineers plan to modernize the avionics, chassis design, as well as to change the engines in the aircraft.
A member of the Russian presidential commission on aviation development Yury Sytnik says Russia wants to resume the manufacture of the Ukrainian-designed An-124 Ruslan under a new brand.
"According to all international rules, we must carry this brand – An-124 – if we have not made significant changes to this aircraft. But changes will be made and it will have a different brand," he told Russia's Hovorit Moskva ("Moscow Speaking") radio station.
Read alsoUkraine complains to ICAO about maintenance of Ukraine's Antonov planes in Russia – media
Sytnik noted that engineers plan to modernize the avionics, chassis design, as well as to change the engines in the aircraft.
"It will be based on the An-124. However, this will be another plane, named An-124 RF, or some other figures may be added," he said.
Commander of Russia's Military Transport Aviation, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Benediktov earlier said that the aircraft production could resume in Russia, but a final decision had not been taken yet.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine had complained to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) about the fact that Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) had approved the operation and maintenance of the An-24, An-26, An-74, and An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft, manufactured at Ukraine's largest aircraft plant, state-run enterprise Antonov.
The An-124 Ruslan is the world's heavy-lift strategic transport aircraft, which was developed by the Antonov Design Bureau (Kyiv, Ukraine). The aircraft made its maiden flight on December 24, 1982.