Antonov An-12

An-12
An-12 of Gomelavia in 2009
Role Civil and military transport aircraft
Manufacturer Antonov
First flight 16 December[1] 1957
Introduction 1959
Status Active service with various airlines (especially cargo) and air forces
Primary users Belarus Air Force
Aeroflot
PLA Air Force
Produced 1957–1973
Number built 1,248
Developed from Antonov An-10
Variants Shaanxi Y-8

The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants.

Design and development

An An-12A of Vega Air makes a traditional smokey takeoff from Kastrup Airport (2004).
47-year-old An-12 still operational. Malmö Airport

The first prototype An-12 flew in December 1957. Over 900 had been built (both military and civilian versions) when Soviet production finally ended in 1973. The An-12BP entered Soviet military service in 1959. In terms of configuration, size, and capability, the aircraft is similar to the United States-built Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Soviet military and former-Soviet An-12s have a defensive tail gun turret.

Chinese production

In the 1960s, China purchased several An-12 aircraft from the Soviet Union, along with a license to assemble the aircraft locally. Due to the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union withdrew its technical assistance and the first flight of a Chinese-assembled An-12 was delayed until 1974. The Xi'an Aircraft Company and Xi'an Aircraft Design Institute worked to reverse-engineer the An-12 for local production.[2]

In 1981, the Chinese version of the An-12, designated Y-8, entered production. Since then, the Y-8 has become one of China's most popular military and civilian transport/cargo aircraft, with many variants produced and exported. A Tu-16/H-6 bomber navigator cockpit design was chosen for the Y-8 instead of the original An-12 shorter navigator cockpit design, as the H-6 bomber had been in serial production for some time.[3] Although the An-12 is no longer in production either in Russia or in Ukraine, the Y-8 is upgraded and produced in China. The latest Y8-F600 is a joint venture between the Shaanxi Aircraft Company, Antonov Aeronautical Scientific Technical Complex (ASTC), and Pratt & Whitney Canada. The Y8-F600 has a redesigned fuselage, western avionics, PW150B turboprop engines with an R-408 propeller system, and a two-crew glass cockpit.[4] It is unknown whether the Shaanxi Y-8 remains in production.

Variants

Operators

An-12 operators (military operators in red, civil operators in green, and operators for both military and civil purposes in blue)

Currently the An-12 is very popular with cargo operators, especially those in the CIS, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.[5]

Civil operators

On 12 January 2009, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a temporary ban of the An-12 from flying over their airspace following runway incursions at Sharjah International Airport and the GCAA has advised operators to stop using the aircraft.[6][7] The ban was made permanent in Feb 2010.[8]

Military operators

Current

 Angola
 Azerbaijan
 Belarus
 China
 Eritrea
 Ethiopia
 Guinea
 Kazakhstan[17]
 Kyrgyzstan
 Moldova
 Mozambique
 Russia
 Sudan
 Uzbekistan[20]
 Yemen
 Zimbabwe

Former

 Afghanistan
  • The Afghan Air Force operated 12 from 1981 through 2001. One of their An-12s which defected to Pakistan is preserved at PAF Museum, Karachi
 Algeria
 Armenia
 Bangladesh
 Ivory Coast
 Czech Republic
 Czechoslovakia
  • Czechoslovakian Air Force : Czechoslovakia's fleet numbering two was divided evenly between the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic upon split with Slovakia. All CzAF An-12s were phased-out of active service in the 1990s.
 Egypt
 Georgia[21]
 India
  • The Indian Air Force inducted the first of these aircraft in 1961, when it raised No.44 Squadron "The Himalayan Geese". Six of these aircraft soon took part in airlifting army reinforcements to Ladakh during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The An-12 was subsequently used to raise No.25 Squadron. The An-12s were also used as heavy bombers during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. All IAF An-12s were phased out of active service in the 1990s. One of them is preserved at the Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, New Delhi.
 Indonesia
 Iraq
 Jordan
 Mongolia
 Myanmar
 Nigeria
 Poland
 Slovakia
  • Slovak Air Force received one An-12BP registered 2209 in 1993. It was sold to Moldavia in 1999 and now serves with Angolan Air Force.[24]
 South Yemen
 Soviet Union
 Syria
 Tanzania
 Turkmenistan
 Ukraine
 Yugoslavia

Accidents and incidents

Specifications (An-12)

Data from Global Aircraft,[25] Airliners.net[26]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Notable appearances in media

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

  1. ↑ "Antonov official website". Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  2. ↑ "Y8 Turboprop Transport Aircraft". Sino Defence.
  3. ↑ "Y8 navigator cockpit modification". AirForceWorld.com. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "Y8F600 aircraft". Shaanxi Aircraft Industry. Archived from the original on 21 May 2006.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Yefim & Komissarov, Dmitry. Antonov An-12. Midland. Hinkley. 2007. ISBN 978-1-85780-255-9
  6. ↑ "GCAA issues temporary ban of Antonov An-12 from UAE airspace". Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  7. ↑ "United Arab Emirates bans flights of Soviet-built An-12 aircraft". Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  8. ↑ "UAE bans ANTONOV An-12 aircraft from its airspace". The Times Of India. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "SRX :: Fleet". Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Endres 1979, p. 189.
  11. ↑ Endres 1979, p. 15.
  12. ↑ Vintage Russian. Props and Jets of the Iron Curtain Airlines, Airlife Publishing, Shrewsbury 1998, ISBN 1-85310-971-1.
  13. ↑ Endres 1979, p. 401–402.
  14. ↑ Endres 1979, p. 351.
  15. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 32.
  16. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 37.
  17. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 41.
  18. 1 2 Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 46.
  19. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 48.
  20. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 53.
  21. ↑ "Armament of the Georgian Army". Georgian Army. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  22. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  23. ↑ Gołąbek, Adam: 13. Pułk Lotnictwa Transportowego in: Lotnictwo z szachownicą nr. 9 and nr. 10
  24. ↑ Radek Havelka. "An-12BP 2209 :: An-12BP". valka. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  25. ↑ "An-12 Cub". Global Aircraft. Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2006.
  26. ↑ "The Antonov An-12 & Shaanxi Y8". Airliners.net. Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2006.
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