AN-225

The Antonov An-225 "Mriya" (Dream) was an unrivaled giant of the skies, an engineering masterpiece designed to carry the Soviet Buran space shuttle atop its large fuselage. As the world's longest and heaviest operational aircraft, the An-225 featured six Progress D-18T turbofan engines and a unique twin-tail fin to accommodate oversized external loads. With a record-breaking maximum takeoff weight of 640 tons and the ability to transport up to 250 tons of internal cargo, the "Mriya" was the only aircraft in existence capable of moving entire power plant generators or wind turbine blades in a single flight. Its tragic destruction in 2022 marked the end of an era, but its legacy as the ultimate heavy-lift aircraft remains unsurpassed in aviation history.