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Tyler Rogoway (formerly of Jalopnik's FoxtrotAlpha and now writing for TheDrive.com) had a take on China's goals(1). He seems to think that the plane's ability
by perrylaj 10y ago
Tyler Rogoway (formerly of Jalopnik's FoxtrotAlpha and now writing for TheDrive.com) had a take on China's goals(1). He seems to think that the plane's ability to act as a launch craft is a notable. I've found Rogoway to be a pretty good source of digestable and non-sensational military tech info.
1. http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5083/why-china-wants-to-put-the-gargantuan-antonov-an-225-mriya-back-into-production http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5083/why-china-wants-to...
- coredog64 10y agoAir launch is an incredibly tricky operation. Even something as trivial as a 500 lb. bomb undergoes lots of trials before it is accepted for use. The US Space Shuttle program only ever did glide testing of the orbiter off the back of the 747 carrier. A real launch of an orbital vehicle off the back of an AN-225 would mean serious envelope pushing and would be putting an extremely expensive aircraft at risk every time.