First aircraft designed by Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov
(1924) was OKA-1 glider, followed 1926-1929 by OKA-
3 to 7. Continued to build gliders during and after the war.
In 1943 was working on Yakolev
An-2
fighters, but fame rests
on An-2 "workhorse" biplane of 1946 (when present
Antonov Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex organization
was founded), used for passenger, freight, exploration,
ambulance, and agricultural work; fitted with wheels, skis,
or floats and license-built in Poland and China. Russian
production of An-2 series ended in 1965 after almost
3,600 built; An-3 was originally considered
An-12
as a turboprop
development of An-2, but is now offered as a midlife
upgrade of the An-2 to have a turboprop engine and
other improvements (first flown 1980). An-12 large four-turboprop
high-wing military transport was essentially similar
to the widely used and earlier An-10, but with rear
loading and many other refinements (first flown December
1957;
An-22 "Antheus"
some 1,400 built up to 1972; also produced
in China as Y8). An-14 was a light twin-piston-engined
transport.
An-22 was the world's largest aircraft when first flown
in February 1965, powered by four huge Kuznetsov turboprop
engines, each driving two contrarotating coaxial
propellers; a very heavy freighter for the Soviet Air Force
and Aeroflot, it was
An-24
given a rear loading ramp to provide
access to the 26.4m cargo hold; set many
payload-to-height records before production finished in
the 1970s. An-24 became an extensively used twin-turboprop
commercial transport (first flown October 1959);
An-26 was a development of An-24 for short-haul freighting and troop carrying (first flown May 1969). An-28 twin-turboprop
light passenger
An-26
and cargo transport first flew
April 1975 and went into production in Poland (still in production
in 1999 by WSK "PZL-Mielec" as M28). An-30
first flown August 1967 as photogrammetric aircraft. An-
32 short/medium-range twin-turboprop transport (first
flown July 1976) was development of An-26, suited to
operation from hot-and-high airfields. An-38 is small 27-
passenger twin-turboprop
An-28
commuter airliner (first flown
June 1994). An-70 medium freighter with four advanced
propfan engines was first flown December 1994 and is
expected to replace remaining An-12s and also some II-
76s, with projected An-170 heavy transport derivative.
An-71 small tactical airborne early warning and control
aircraft with rotating radome above tailfin, known to
NATO as Madcap
An-72
(first flown July 1985 but so far without
production orders) was based on An-72, the latter a light
freighter or passenger transport with two turbofan engines
carried ahead of the high-mounted wings (first flown
August 1977); An-72P armed surveillance and maritime
patrol aircraft based on An-72; An-74 is civil development
of An-72, originally for Arctic
An-124 "Ruslan"
operations but since produced
in other variants. An-88 is a tactical battlefield surveillance
aircraft based on An-72 (also known as An-72R).
An-124 very-heavy-lift freighter, first flying December 1982
as then the world's largest aircraft, is powered by four turbofans
and has a wing span of 240 ft 6 in (73.3 m) and
all-up weight of
An-225 "Mria"
392,000kg. An-140 short-haul
regional airliner is to supersede An-24 (first flown
September 1997); An-142 is proposed civil/military derivative
of An-140, with rear loading ramp. An-180 is proposed
175-passenger propfan airliner, and An-218 is
proposed medium/long-range airliner for 195-400 passengers.
An-225 Mriya was produced as an enlarged and
six-turbojet development of An-124, first flying in December
1988 but only one completed. An-102 and An-104
are projected agricultural aircraft.
