Antonov An-124 Ruslan

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union (USSR). The An-124 is the world's second heaviest gross weight production cargo airplane and heaviest operating cargo aircraft, behind the destroyed one-off Antonov An-225 Mriya (an enlarged derivative of the An-124). The An-124 remains the largest military transport aircraft in service. In 1971, design work commenced on the project, which was initially referred to as Izdeliye 400 (Product #400), at the Antonov Design Bureau in response to a shortage in heavy airlift capability within the Military Transport Aviation Command (Komandovaniye voyenno-transportnoy aviatsii or VTA) arm of the Soviet Air Forces. Two separate final assembly lines plants setup for the aircraft, one at Aviastar-SP (ex.