Ukraine considers resuming An-74 light cargo plane production

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine is considering resuming production of the Antonov-74 air cargo plane and supplying them to the country's armed forces, the government said on Saturday.

The Soviet-designed An-74 is a light transport aircraft with jet engines capable of flying 4,600 km at a speed of 560 km per hour. It made its first flight in 1979.

A total of 62 An-74 were built in the period from 1985 to 2004.

Ukraine, the designer of the world's largest transport aircraft An-225, has all but stopped building planes in recent years due to a severe economic crisis and the severing of relations with Russia, where a significant part of the components was produced.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)