The world’s biggest plane, destroyed in Ukraine, will fly again in Microsoft Flight Simulator
A deal between Antonov and Microsoft is officially bringing the An-225 “Mriya” to digital life.
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The Antonov An-225 “Mriya,” built in 1985, was the world’s biggest plane before it was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Antonov was a Soviet company, you see, but it’s based in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and when Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, Antonov went with it.
After being mothballed for several years, Mriya was brought back into service in 2001, and flew massive transport missions around the world, carrying cargoes that no other plane could manage. Its final mission took place in February 2022, when it carried nearly 90 tons of Covid-19 test kits from China to Denmark.
On February 24, Russia launched its attack on Ukraine; the Antonov Airport in Hostomel was one of the early targets of Russian forces, and while Ukrainian forces were able to recapture the airport quickly, the Mriya—the only one of its kind—had already been destroyed.
It was a big loss for aircraft enthusiasts around the world. This wasn’t just a big plane, it wasthebig plane. The biggest of them all. An absolute unit, as my UK friends would say. If this was an American plane, it’d be described in football fields. It needed two solidmilesof runway to get off the ground.
Pictures really can’t do it justice, but just look at this goddamn thing:
It should be physically impossible for a behemoth like this to move, much less fly, and yet fly it did.
So it’s happy news that the big bird will soon be coming back—digitally—in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The An-225 has previously been flyable in Flight Sim through third-party mods, but this version will arise from an official licensing deal between Microsoft, Antonov, and sim developerIniBuilds. An-225 captainDmytro Antonovis also involved in the creation of the plane, to ensure maximum possible accuracy.
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“We said a year ago that it was very upsetting when the plane was destroyed,” Microsoft Flight Simulator chief Jorg Neumann said during a developer stream reveal. “I remember saying, we’re going to remake this in the digital space. But we need help, right? We didn’t have much insight, there was no reference, you couldn’t go scan it, those types of things. So in all of our efforts to work through everything with Antonov, they’ve been really, really helpful.”
Antonov confirmed the Flight Simulator deal on Twitter:
The An-225 Mriya—“Dream” in English—will launch in Microsoft Flight Simulator on February 27, the one-year anniversary of the plane’s destruction. IniBuilds said the plane will cost $20, with all proceeds going to Antonov/Ukraine. I’ve reached out to Microsoft for more clarity on that, and will update if I receive a reply.
The real Mriya is coming back, too. Antonov announced plans torebuild the An-225in November 2022.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill.Lotsof Henry Cavill.
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