crisis, the Ukrainian government, in April 2014, announced that it would halt all military-technical cooperation with Russia. In August 2014, a Ukrainian court ordered the Russian Defence Ministry to make outstanding payments to Antonov. In March 2015, Russia Defence Ministry declared that it is ruling out the An-70 for state procurement. It also declared that, as in their opinion, Ukraine has withdrawn from the military and defence agreements signed before the crisis between them by completing the aircraft without Russian involvement, it would request return of 2.95 billion rubles that Russian government had spent on An-70 project. Design The An-70 is a monoplane with a high-mounted wing design that features four distinctive propfan engines. Designed by the Progress Design Bureau, each of the D-27 engines is rated at 13,800 shp (which can be uprated to 16,000 shp), which is used to drive the SV-27 contra-rotating scimitar propellers designed by Aerosila; eight on the front propeller and six on the aft propeller. The propfan engines deliver slipstream to the supercritical wings that feature double-slotted trailing edges to provide high lift coefficients at low speeds. The modernisation of the aircraft during 2010–12 saw upgrades to the engines, including the incorporation of FADEC, and the further separation of the two propellers. The aircraft's cruise speed is 750 km/h (405 kt) at an operational altitude of ; Antonov claimed in 1997 that the aircraft had a design maximum speed of 850 km/h (460 kt, or Mach 0.8), which would have compared favourably with Mach 0.77 of the larger turbofan-powered C-17. According to DASA's evaluation, the propfan engines were 10 percent more efficient than conventional turboprops. Similar to many aircraft designs of the Soviet Union, the An-70 was designed as an airlifter that could operate from unprepared fields. In short take-off and landing (STOL) configuration, the aircraft could lift off from a dirt strip with of cargo and fly for . Alternatively, it could fly the same distance with of cargo if it took off from a paved runway. For a payload-heavy mission, the An-70 can haul of cargo for a range of , but if range was essential, the aircraft can carry a load of over . In exceptional circumstances, the An-70 subjected to lower-g take-offs, can airlift a T-80U main battle tank and fly it for . The fully pressurised internal cabin measures wide and high, and has a length of from the