After failing to sell An-225 transport aircraft, Ukraine is now taking out another product – Antonov An-22 strategic transport aircraft.
In terms of load alone, Antonov An-22 has surpassed US C-17 and China’s Y-20 transport aircraft, second only to An-225, An-124 and US C-5.
However, according to Chinese analyst Xin Xiao, An-22 could be used for freight transportation, but it may not be suitable for the military field.
For strategic transport aircrafts, their load is only one of the key indicators. Although An-22 has a maximum load of 80 tons, other aspects of performance are not so good. As a turboprop, the cruise speed of An-22 is only 680 km/h, while the speed of modern transport aircrafts using jet engines is generally around 800 km/h, that means, the flight speed of An-22 would easily cause delays in military operations.
In addition, the practical ceiling of An-22 is only 7,500 meters, which is much lower than that of C-17 or Y-20, which is from 10,000 to 13,000 meters. So it’s more difficult to fly in the upper area.
At the same time, lower ceiling means greater air resistance, and the more fuel the aircraft consumes, and the worse its operating economy is. This is why the Soviet military gave up developing large propeller transport aircraft after Antonov An-22.
Judging from these shortcomings, the value of An-22 as a modern military strategic transport aircraft is very limited, and its turboprop engines has limited improvement of its performance. Therefore, China is not likely to import this aircraft.