A new Ukrainian transport An-178 aircraft with a carrying capacity of 18 tonnes developed and produced by Antonov state enterprise (Kyiv) has been recently introduced to potential military customers in Kuwait, the specialized resource Defence Blog has reported.

According to the resource, on October 30 as part of a tour in the Middle East, the new Ukrainian transport aircraft conducted a demonstration flight in Kuwait with the participation of the Kuwaiti Air Forces.

It is planned in future to organize the participation of An-178 aircraft in demonstration flights at the Dubai Airshow 2017 international aerospace exhibition, which will be held in the UAE in November.

The Antonov press service told Interfax-Ukraine the An-178 airplane flew from Ukraine to Kuwait. However, it avoided specifying any details at this stage, as well as plans for the Middle East "tour" of the new Ukrainian transport aircraft.

About 200 companies from 15 countries are involved in production cooperation under the An-178 program. Today Antonov is promoting the An-178 program in the Middle East and Central Asia: the UAE, China and Azerbaijan have already shown interest in the new Ukrainian transport air carrier.