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Further Reading

An-22 Antei Cock

The first An-22 flew on 24 February 1965. A civil version of the An-22 appeared in Aeroflot markings at the Paris International Air Show at Le Bourget at the Paris Air Show in 1965. The largest transport aircraft of the time, An-22 set a number of world records. The AN-22 is an advanced heavy transport aircraft roughly comparable to the Lockheed C-5A transport subsequently developed in the United States. Soviet sources credited the AN-22, development of which was initiated in the Khrushchev period, with a range of 6000 miles with a 45-ton cargo. A maximum payload of about 176,000 pounds can be carried about 3,100 miles and with a payload of about 100,000 pounds, the range is extended to 6,800 miles. Despite orders for 100 An-22, only 48 aircraft were actually flying by 1983.

The AN-22 is driven by four 8-bladed contrarotating propellers each powered by 15,000-hp Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engines. It is capable of cruising at 740 km/hr for a distance of 11,000 kilometers with a load of 45 tons. The maximum capacity of the hermetically sealed cargo chamber is 80 tons, equivalent to 720 passengers with their hand baggage. Soviet turboprop aircraft achieved high propeller fuel efficiency at speeds approaching those of jet-powered planes. Soviet long-range turboprops included the Tupolev TU-95 "Bear" (which weighed 340,000 pounds, had a maximum range of 7,800 miles, a propeller diameter of 18.4 feet, and operated at a .75 mach cruise speed) and the Antonov AN-22 "Cock" (which weighed 550,000 pounds, had a maximum range of 6,800 miles, a propeller diameter of 20.3 feet, and operated at a .69 mach cruise speed). Ungrounded gearboxes were successfully used on two Russian applications: the Tupolev TU-95 "Bear" and the Antonov AN-22 "Cock." This experience provided evidence to confirm the results of analytical studies regarding the safety of the ungrounded gearbox.

The chief engineer for the AN-22 was Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. The AN-22 is completely equipped for bad-weather flying, can take-off and maintain flight with three of its engines, and due to the special construction of its undercarriage (large wheel size and automatically controlled pressure), this aircraft can land on unpaved runways. The take-off distance is stated to be 1100 - 1300 meters.

The An-22 aircraft is intended to airlift heavy and large-size combat materiel and troop forces to long distances, airdrop and airland airborne troops. The aircraft is built around a high-wing monoplane configuration. The aircraft structure peculiarities reside in a two-fin tail unit, considerable cut for a cargo hatch, measuring 4.4x16 m, co-axial propellers with an efficiency exceeding 90%.

The An-22 is equipped with a cargo ramp that can be set at various levels (from the ground to a loading trestle or truck body), four telphers with a cargo-lifting capacity of 2.5 tons each that facilitate and speed up loading/unloading processes, regardless of the availability of airfield cargo-handling facilities. The aircraft cargo hold can accommodate 151 paratroopers or 292 soldiers, or 202 wounded.

A power-assisted servo-tab control system was developed for the An-22 aircraft. The system ensures high-degree flight safety and enables the crew to change over to manual control when the power-assisted control system fails. The aircraft is fitted with a multi-strut multi-wheel cross-country landing gear that enables the crew to land the aircraft even in case of break-up of separate strut shock absorbers or tires, or failure in the extension of up to two struts. The LG main units comprise three independent struts (on each side) with a levered suspension of wheels, 1.72 m in dia. The landing gear control system enables the crew to change the tire pressure on the ground and in air that allows the crew to operate the aircraft from both concrete airfields and unpaved and snow-covered first-category airfields.

The airborne equipment is intended to execute airdropping/cargo-airlifting missions in VFR and IFR weather conditions and comprises a flight-and-navigation, aiming, radio communications and airdropping/cargo-handling equipment. The flight-and-navigation equipment comprises an integrated flight control and aiming-navigation system, automatic radio compass, radio altimeter, UHF radio compass, optical direction finder. The radio communications equipment comprises a HF radio set, UHF/VFR radio set, intercom system, survival radio set, voice warning system and tape recorder.

The airdropping/cargo-handling equipment is intended to load, unload and airdrop paratroopers, combat materiel and cargoes, arrange and tie down them for airlift and comprises a cargo winch, electric telpher, rollgang equipment, tie-down chains, cables, rigging and auxiliary equipment, side-mounted stationary seats, detachable seats, ambulance straps, posts and medical equipment to cater to the wounded.

The aircraft can carry 85-100% nomenclature of armament and combat materiel of different fighting service organic subunits. In terms of transportation capabilities, the An-22 outperforms the IL-76M military transport aircraft 1.4 times.

On 6 October 1973, the countries of Egypt and Syria launched an attack on Israel. The Soviet Union took up the task of resupplying the aggressors in this conflict that became known as the Yom Kippur War. President Richard Nixon vowed U.S. help to the Israelis. The Yom Kippur War ended with a cease fire between the warring nations. Operation Nickel Grass sustained Israel and outperformed the Soviets supply effort to Egypt and Syria. Within seven days of the outbreak of hostilities, Soviet AN-12 and AN-22 transports had delivered approximately 5,000 tons of weapons to Egypt and Syria. Soviet transport aircraft (AN-12 and AN-22) moved total of 15,000 tons of cargo, but only had to cover a distance of 1,700 miles.

As Ivanovo housed the An-22 overhaul facility, it also seemed to be the place where the An-22's end their days. By June 1999 Tver still housed some fifteen An-22's. However, their condition was unknown as only the top of the tails were seen above the trees. This meant probably some sixty percent of the entire production had been scrapped by the summer of 1999 and some eighty percent by the Summer of 2001. By the second half of 1999 a few military aircraft have seen their last action in the Tjetsnian war. On April 16th 2000 RA-09344 took off from Krasnodar en flew to Tver. This was the last recorded flight of a Russian Air Force An-22 at that time. However, suddenly in September and October 2001 several An-22's were recorded in Russian airways, in total seven different aircraft flew by this time. It seemed the Putin administration was able to find some funds to keep these gracious birds flying.

In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Military Sealift Command (MSC) established fueling operations for the U.S. Navy combatants and support ships en route to and from the Persian Gulf in the southern Mediterranean port of Souda Bay, Crete, Greece. Due to the size and configuration of the equipment, very few aircraft were capable of transporting it. After working with several commercial freight forwarders, the only aircraft available in the time frame required was a Russian-built Antonov AN-22 cargo aircraft, which was available through Target Logistics Service of Newport News, VA. Although this specific aircraft did not have landing rights in the United States, it could land in Canada. So a plan was developed to move the equipment through the Toronto airport.

Equipment was repackaged to fit in the AN-22 cargo aircraft, loaded onto four trucks, and transported to Toronto. There, it was loaded onto the aircraft under the supervision of the GPC warehouse manager. The response personnel were already in Souda Bay and waiting for the equipment when it arrived. Additional equipment was sent via MSC as space became available (eventually shipping in January 2004).