An 990 [top] — Antonov

: Despite its size, all versions are capable of taking off and landing on water. Variants of the "Juggernaut" Series

The death knell for the An-990 was not engineering, but economics. By the late 1980s, the Soviet economy was stagnating. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 shattered the unified supply chain required to build such a machine. The Ukrainian government, inheriting Antonov, had no budget for experimental super-heavy lifters.

Antonov's numbering system typically follows a sequence (An-2, An-24, An-124, An-225, etc.), and no "An-990" has ever been designed, built, or proposed. The largest aircraft Antonov ever produced is the (which had six engines and was designed to carry the Buran space shuttle). antonov an 990

Despite the theoretical brilliance of the An-990 design, it faced insurmountable engineering hurdles that kept it grounded on the drawing board:

The is a beautiful lie—a testament to our collective desire to see humanity push the boundaries of flight. It represents the "what if" of Soviet engineering: What if the USSR had not collapsed? What if the Buran space program had continued? What if weight and drag were merely suggestions? : Despite its size, all versions are capable

It is important to note that the An-990 is . While Antonov is a real manufacturer known for massive planes like the An-124 and the late An-225, the An-990 is a "what-if" project created by the flight sim community (notably developers like hangglider and MGouge) to test the limits of physics engines.

Outfitted with massive retardant tanks to combat simulated forest fires. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 shattered

In real aviation history, the largest aircraft produced by Antonov was the An-225 Mriya , which had a maximum takeoff weight of about 640 tonnes—roughly one-tenth the weight of the fictional An-990.