Ан-12: Кеңес Одағының орта қашықтықтағы көлігі

Soviet medium range transport aircraft

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. In 1981, the Chinese version of the An 12, designated Y 8, finally 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. Although the An 12 is no longer in use 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.

The aircraft first took flight in 1957 and was produced in the USSR until 1973. It was used in a variety of roles from search and rescue operations to equipment transportation. Its most significant use was seen during the Soviet Afghan War. Among Soviet soldiers, it was infamously known that the plane would take off from Afghanistan to Tashkent with "Cargo 200" or coffins with the bodies of deceased soldiers. To this regard the aircraft was nicknamed "Black Tulip" (Russian: «Чёрный тюльпан»).

In addition to its basic cargo transport role, the An 12 was adapted as a platform for a wide variety of specialist tasks and some 30 different variants were produced. Upgrades included increased take off weights and additional fuel capacity. The upgraded variant An 12BP became the standard tactical transport of the Soviet and other air forces. In 2021, it was announced that the gunship will not be based on the An 12 after all, as it did not meet the requirements for a "flying gunner."

Currently the An 12 is popular with cargo operators, especially those in the CIS, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

On 8 January 2009, following numerous incidents involving the An 12 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issued a temporary ban of the An 12 from UAE airspace. On 1 March 2010, the ban was made permanent after the An 12 failed a GCAA airworthiness evaluation.