Ukraine Air Force to get three An-70 cargo planes

The Ukrainian Air Force will take delivery of three An-70 military transport aircraft, Defense Minister Mikhaylo Yezhel said on Wednesday.The first plane will be delivered "in the very near future," he said.Asked whether Ukraine would be able to make An-70s without Russia, the minister said: "It's already making them."He stressed, however, that he did not mean series production and this was a question not for the Defense Ministry, but for the Antonov design bureau.The An-70 is a medium-range turboprop military transport plane developed by Ukraine's Antonov design bureau. The Antonov company first tested a prototype of the An-70 in 1994, but a lack of funding, and political disputes between Moscow and Kiev have prevented series production.Antonov decided to proceed with self-funding.The first plane was lost during its fourth flight in February 1995 in a mid-air collision that killed the seven crewmembers.In 2002, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a 50-50 risk-sharing production deal, but in April 2006 Russia announced its complete withdrawal from the project.