The Antonov AN-225, the world’s largest commercial airplane, will be rebuilt after it was destroyed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The plane, nicknamed “Mriya,” which is Ukrainian for dream, was attacked by Russian forces in February.
According to CNN, the plane was completely destroyed after taking a “direct artillery hit” to the nose.
Ukroboronprom, which manages Antonov, said at the time that repairs would cost $3 billion and that it would make every effort to ensure Russia covered the costs.
Now the company has said that design work has begun for the rebuild and it predicted it would cost about $502 million to fix the “Mriya.”
Antonov said it already has many of the components it will need to rebuild the plane, which is 276 feet long and weighs about 628,000 pounds.
The Antonov AN-225, which was built in the 1980s, holds the records for heaviest aircraft ever built and longest wingspan of any operational craft.
The plane was originally designed to carry a Russian space shuttle but later operated as a cargo plane able to carry twice the capacity of a Boeing 747.
