An-12. A Soviet military transport aircraft from 1957: 39 world records on speed and altitude. Flight range – 3350 km, max. speed – 650 km/h, ceiling – 10500 m, payload – 20000 kg, armament – AM23 cannon
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. For more than three decades the An-12 was the standard medium-range cargo and paratroop transport aircraft of the Soviet air forces. A total of 1,248 were eventually built.
Developed from the Antonov An-8, the An-12 was a military version of the An-10 passenger transport. The first prototype An-12 flew in December 1957 and entered Soviet military service in 1959. Initially, the aircraft was produced at the State Aviation Factory in Irkutsk. From 1962, production was transferred to Tashkent, where 830 were built. Later, production moved to Voronezh and Kazan.
In military use, the An-12 has capacity for up to 100 fully equipped paratroopers or 20,000 kg (44,090 lb) of cargo, which is loaded through the rear loading ramp/door.
In terms of configuration, size, and capability, the aircraft is similar to the United States-built Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules. Soviet military and former-Soviet An-12s have a defensive tail gun turret.
