Myasishchev VM-T

The Myasishchev VM-T Atlant was a heavy airlift aircraft rebuilt from the M-4 Molot and 3M bomber. The bureau conceived it in 1978 to carry rocket stages and other very large space hardware to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Engineers took an old 3M, replaced its tail with dihedral stabilizers carrying large rectangular end fins, and fitted a streamlined cargo container on top of the fuselage with a new control system to cope with the added weight. It first flew in 1981 and made its first cargo flight in January 1982, ferrying Energia booster sections and, on several occasions, the unfinished Buran shuttle. Two were built, and Antonov An-225 Mriya replaced them in 1989. One survives at Zhukovsky and the other at Dyagilevo.