RIP the AN-225

[Weaver]

It's been rumoured ever since the Russian airborne attack on Hostomel Airport, but it's now been confirmed with pictures: the An-225 Mriya was destroyed in the fighting:




Pictures from this thread on Twitter by Aeronews: https://twitter.com/AeronewsGlobal/status/1499642419670827008?s=20&t=yN3SilrMju-71NjbgDeJ5g

[zenrat]

Shame.

That's one heck of a big shelter.

[PR19_Kit]

And that gained the Russians precisely what? 

I'm glad to have seen its monster shape looming over the Black Sheds at Farnborough when it flew in there.

Wasn't there another part completed airframe as well? But that was probably at the same Antonov owned airfield.

[scooter]

And that gained the Russians precisely what? 

The ability for Ukraine to earn tax revenue through industrial heavy lift and international good will through humanitarian heavy lift

[zenrat]

Here's some pics of her in better days.
Moving Chinooks out of Kandahar in 2005.
Courtesy of the real Fat Hamster.

DSCF0005 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
DSCF0006 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
DSCF0002 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
DSCF0030 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[Weaver]

And that gained the Russians precisely what? 

I'm glad to have seen its monster shape looming over the Black Sheds at Farnborough when it flew in there.

Wasn't there another part completed airframe as well? But that was probably at the same Antonov owned airfield.

AFAIK there's no detail on who did it or in what context. It may have simply been caught in an artillery barrage, or there may have been troops of one side or the other immediately outside the hangar, in which case it might have been impossible to avoid hitting it whilst engaging them.

[sandiego89]

Wasn't there another part completed airframe as well? But that was probably at the same Antonov owned airfield.

Yes, the partially built second one is in the big hangar just to the South a few hundred meters.  Basic fuselage complete.  Have not heard any reports on that one.   

[PR19_Kit]

The reports say it was bombed, but the poor thing is TOTALLY wrecked inside a very slightly damaged hangar, with only a few holes in the roof.

Did the 'bombs' land sideways?

[scooter]

The reports say it was bombed, but the poor thing is TOTALLY wrecked inside a very slightly damaged hangar, with only a few holes in the roof.

Did the 'bombs' land sideways?

Precision guided glide bombs do.

[kitnut617]

In the foreground of one picture there, looks like an unexploded shell ----- 

[Hobbes]

The reports say it was bombed, but the poor thing is TOTALLY wrecked inside a very slightly damaged hangar, with only a few holes in the roof.

Did the 'bombs' land sideways?

Bombs tend to be set up so they punch through thin metal (like a hangar roof) and explode inside.

[Weaver]

I saw some footage of a Ukrainian Su-24 dropping iron bombs at very low level and high speed, allegdly over Hostomel. I think they'd have hit the ground at less than 30 deg, so, depending on the fuzing, they could well have gone in through the front of that hangar.

[kerick]

Nice shot of the unexploded artillery shell in the fore ground. Makes me think it got caught in an artillery strike. Stupid thing to do by the Russians.

[Old Wombat]

Nice shot of the unexploded artillery shell in the fore ground. Makes me think it got caught in an artillery strike. Stupid thing to do by the Russians.

Right now, everything the Russians do is stupid!

Right now, everything the rest of the world doesn't do is stupid!


I've been watching Putin &, after a week of the Ukrainian invasion not achieving much & worrying whether NATO might react to some act, you could see the stress & anxiety building in him.

Now, at day 10 (11?) & the world doing nothing of any real consequence, you can see his confidence growing again & in a couple/few months you can say goodbye to the Baltic states, as Putin forces a direct link to Kalingrad by expanding Greater Russia.

[McColm]

I thought that the Chinese were building the An-225 and An-124s.