Tupolev Tu-330

The Tupolev Tu-330 was a proposed Russian medium-size transport aircraft developed by Tupolev since the early 1990s. The project was stopped around 2000s due to lack of funding and difficult economic situation of the Russian aircraft industry at the time.

Design
The Tu-330 was to have a swept high-mounted wing design with two high-bypass ratio PS-90A engines mounted below the wings. An optional powerplant system has also been proposed, using NK-93 engines that can operate on LNG (liquefied natural gas) fuel. The aircraft was also designed for commonality with the Tu-204/Tu-214 civilian airliner series, in order to simplify production and minimize costs of manufacturing, maintenance and parts.

Variants
In addition to Tu-330, the following variants were proposed:


 * Tu-330: Basic civilian cargo variant.
 * Tu-330PS: Search and rescue variant.
 * Tu-330P: Firefighting variant.
 * Tu-330RL: A variant designed for long-range reconnaissance flights.
 * Tu-330R: Communication relay aircraft.
 * Tu-330VT: Strategic/Tactical airlifter.
 * Tu-330SE: Sanitary and evacuation aircraft.
 * Tu-330TZ: Aerial refueling tanker.
 * Tu-330K (Tu-338): A proposed liquid natural gas-fuelled variant with a Samara NK-94 engine.