So there is a dear reader - you are not mistaken, in this publication we will talk about the bombers of the "An" brand, designed under the leadership of the Soviet aircraft designer Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. The world famous O. K. Antonov became after the creation of a number of very successful transport and passenger aircraft. But now few people remember that his first-born - the An-2 piston biplane, in addition to the transport and passenger version, was designed as a light reconnaissance spotter and a night bomber.
Work on the combat version of the "maize" began at OKB-153 in the spring of 1947. According to the project, it was supposed to be a three-seater aircraft designed for night reconnaissance, adjusting artillery fire and night bombing, with the possibility of landing on unpaved front-line airfields with short runways. The characteristics of the An-2, its low speed, high maneuverability, minimum mileage and takeoff run were fully suitable for these tasks.
The aircraft, which received the symbol "F" ("Fedya") had a lot in common with the base An-2. In order to improve the convenience of combat use, the fuselage and tail unit were redesigned. Closer to the tail section, an observer pilot's cockpit was mounted, which resembled a cage and was a glazed truss structure. In order to ensure the convenience of using defensive weapons in the rear hemisphere, the tail unit was made with spaced keels.
To repel the attacks of enemy fighters from the rear hemisphere, a turret with a 20-mm B-20 cannon was installed behind the upper wing. In the lower right plane, another fixed 20-mm cannon was mounted, firing forward. The crew's workplaces and the engine received armor protection. When used as a night bomber, the aircraft could carry twelve 50 kg bombs in cassettes located in the fuselage, under the lower planes there were four holders for 100 kg bombs or NAR blocks.
An-2NAK (night artillery spotter) tests were successfully completed in early 1950. But due to the development of jet aviation, the aircraft was not serially built. Further events showed the erroneousness of this decision. During the fighting on the Korean Peninsula in the early 1950s, Po-2 and Yak-11 night bombers were used very effectively. Due to the low speed, the accuracy of bombing from the Po-2 biplanes was very good, and the "flying whatnots" themselves, due to the large difference in speed and high maneuverability, turned out to be a very difficult target for American night fighters. There are several known cases when night interceptors crashed when trying to shoot down Po-2 flying at night at low altitude. North Korean light bombers operating, as a rule, over enemy trenches and in the frontal zone, were a real nightmare for the "UN forces". On-2 took 100-150 kg of small-caliber bombs, with the help of which they paralyzed car traffic in the immediate rear and terrorized targets on the enemy's front line. American soldiers called them "crazy Chinese alarm clocks." It seems that the An-2NAK night bomber, which had speed and maneuverability characteristics similar to the Po-2, could be much more effective in Korea with a higher payload.
The successful use in a number of military conflicts of the converted "maize" prompted the designers to return to the topic of military use of the An-2. At the beginning of 1964, a modified An-2 with shock weapons was tested at the airfield of the Air Force Research Institute of the Air Force in Chkalovsky.
The aircraft was equipped with rifle and bomb sights, the armament included NAR UB-16-57 blocks and bombs of 100-250 kg caliber. For the suspension of weapons on the An-2, beam holders BDZ-57KU were mounted. In the windows and the lining of the cargo compartment, devices were made for firing from Kalashnikov assault rifles. The test results of the military were not impressed and work on this topic in the USSR was no longer carried out.
Despite the fact that the "combat" version of the An-2 did not go into production, this aircraft, which was not originally intended for war, has repeatedly participated in hostilities in various parts of the world. The first reliably known case of the An-2's combat use occurred in Indochina in 1962, when the North Vietnamese An-2 delivered cargo to its allies in Laos - the left neutralists and the Pathet Lao detachments. In the course of such flights, shelling from the ground was often carried out on the "maize". To suppress anti-aircraft fire on the An-2, they began to suspend 57-mm NAR C-5 blocks and install machine guns in the doorways.
The next step of the DRV Air Force was targeted night attacks by South Vietnamese and American warships and ground bases. A well-known case was when an An-2 group on a night combat mission with the help of NURS sank a patrol boat and damaged a landing ship of the South Vietnamese Navy. But a similar attack on the US Navy destroyers, which fired at the coast at night, failed. The Americans, who controlled the airspace of the radar, spotted the approaching An-2 in time and shot down one biplane with an anti-aircraft missile.
Much more successful Vietnamese An-2 acted against armed boats and junks, which were thrown by American and South Vietnamese sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
The end of the Vietnam War did not put an end to the combat career of the "maize". After the introduction of Vietnamese troops in 1979 in Cambodia, An-2 attacked the Khmer Rouge units. They were often used as forward aircraft controllers. The An-2 pilots, having found the target, “processed” it with bombs and NURS. Incendiary phosphorus grenades were used to designate the target and guide other faster attack aircraft; when white phosphorus burned, thick, clearly visible white smoke was released, which served as a reference point. Interestingly, for the air strikes in Cambodia against the Khmer Rouge, together with the low-speed An-2, American-made F-5 fighters and A-37 attack aircraft were used.
The next time An-2 entered the battle in Nicaragua in the early 80s. Several Sandinista agricultural aircraft were equipped with holders of 100 kg of aerial bombs. As such, the planes were used to bombard CIA-backed contras.
A little-known page of the An-2's combat use is the war in Afghanistan. In addition to transporting cargo to field airfields, these vehicles were used by the Afghan Air Force as light reconnaissance and spotters. Several times they bombed villages occupied by armed opposition units. Good maneuverability and low infrared signature of the piston engine helped them avoid being hit by MANPADS missiles. In case of falling under fire from anti-aircraft machine guns An-2, they switched to low-level flight or dived into the gorges. The Afghan An-2 repeatedly returned to the airfields with holes, but they are not in the reports of combat losses.
An-2 also occasionally participated in various conflicts in Africa. Machine-gun turrets were handily mounted on aircraft, and hand grenades and industrial explosive charges were usually used for bombing ground targets.
The scale of the An-2's combat use in ethnic conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia turned out to be much larger. In Croatia, on the basis of the agricultural aviation detachment in g. Osijek, a bomber squadron was created, which was armed with about a dozen An-2. Since November 1991, Croatian "twos" have been involved in night bombing of Serb positions, in total they have made more than 60 sorties. In this case, homemade bombs were used, dropped through an open door. In view of the low infrared visibility, the An-2 turned out to be a difficult target for the Strela-2M MANPADS that the Serbs had. There is a known case when, in order to shoot down a Croatian piston biplane at night, the Serbian military used up 16 MANPADS missiles. Another An-2 was hit by the Kvadrat anti-aircraft missile. In total, during the battles near the city of Vukovar, the Croats lost at least five An-2. In addition to actions against Serbian military targets, Croatian Anas have been used several times in raids on columns of Serb refugees, which is a war crime.
In January-February 1993, Croatian An-2 bombed the positions of the troops and important objects of the self-proclaimed Republic of Srpska Krajina. During a raid on an oil field near the village of Dzheletovitsi, one An-2 was hit. The crew managed to safely make an emergency landing, but, trying to evade pursuit, the pilots blew up in a minefield.
In 1992, Croats used their An-2s during battles in the territory of the former Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, one plane burned up in the air after being hit by a 57-mm S-60 anti-aircraft gun. The Bosnian Serbs got the equipment of the local flying clubs, they used the An-2 as scouts and light attack aircraft. In March 1993, while bombing Muslim positions near the city of Srebrenica, one plane was shot down.
Cases of combat use of An-2 in the course of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh were noted. According to media reports, one Armenian An-2 crashed after being damaged by anti-aircraft fire.
In Chechnya, General Dudayev had several serviceable An-2s at his disposal. It is known that some of them were prepared for use as night bombers. But these aircraft did not have time to take part in hostilities, all of them were destroyed in early December 1994 by Russian aviation at their home airfields.
The use of "twos" in hostilities was usually forced. Transport-passenger, agricultural and aeroclub aircraft made combat missions after minimal re-equipment and training.
They approached the use of the An-2 for military purposes in the DPRK in a completely different way. A significant part of the Soviet and Chinese-made biplanes in North Korea were modernized at aircraft repair enterprises. To reduce the visibility at night, the aircraft were painted black, rifle turrets were mounted in the door openings and in the windows. Holders for bombs and NAR blocks were installed under the lower planes and the fuselage. In addition to shock functions, the "two" were assigned the task of sending scouts and saboteurs to the territory of South Korea. They crossed the contact line at an extremely low altitude, remaining invisible to South Korean and American radars. A North Korean An-2 captured by South Korean intelligence services during one of these missions is currently on display at the Military Museum in Seoul.
In addition to the first-born An-2, other machines created in the Antonov Design Bureau were often involved in bombing ground targets. In 1957, the serial construction of the An-12 medium military transport aircraft began. It was the first Soviet mass-produced transport vehicle with four AI-20 turboprop engines. In total, more than 1200 aircraft of this type were built at three aircraft factories from 1957 to 1973. The fuselage design of the transport An-12 almost completely coincided with the design of the fuselage of the passenger An-10. The main difference between the An-12 was in the stern, where there was a cargo hatch and a tail rifle installation.
An-12
An-12 significantly expanded the capabilities of the Soviet airborne forces. This aircraft could transfer not only 60 paratroopers, but also heavy equipment and weapons weighing up to 21 tons at a cruising speed of 570 km / h. Flight range with normal load is 3200 km.
From the very beginning, the An-12 provided for the suspension of bombs for various purposes. For targeted bombing and dropping of airborne cargo, the navigator has OPB-1R and NKPB-7 sights and a panoramic radar RBP-2 to determine the point of cargo drop out of sight of the ground.
There were several options for placing bomb weapons. On the right side of the fuselage there was a bomb bay with a hatch for two bombs with a caliber of 50 to 100 kg or six bombs with a caliber of 25 kg. Also, small-caliber bombs were hung on beams in the front parts of the landing gear fairings. This is how special-purpose bombs were usually placed: tentative signal, lighting, photographic, etc. In the rear fuselage there is a box holder for the vertical suspension of 6 aerial bombs or radiosondes.
In 1969, the AN-12BKV bomber and sea mine planner was successfully tested. The discharge of the combat load from the cargo compartment was carried out using a special stationary conveyor through the open cargo hatch. The cargo compartment could accommodate up to 70 bombs with a caliber of 100 kg, up to 32 250-kg or 22 bombs with a caliber of 500 kg. There was the possibility of loading 18 UDM-500 sea mines. During the tests, it turned out that the acceptable effectiveness of bombing with the An-12BKV can be carried out only for area targets. The main reason was the large dispersion of bombs dropped by the conveyor from the open cargo hatch. In addition, the aircraft lacked special bomber sights, and the capabilities of the available standard day and night sights were clearly insufficient. Nevertheless, at the aircraft plant in Tashkent, An-12BKV aircraft were built in a small series. Later, the construction of special "bomber" modifications was abandoned. If necessary, all combatant transport modifications of the An-12 could be quickly converted into bombers after the installation of a special TG-12MV transporter.
The standard loading scheme provided for the placement in the cargo compartment of up to 42,100 kg of aerial bombs, up to 34 bombs of 250 kg caliber and up to 22 RBK-500 or 18,500 kg of land mines. Great difficulties arose with the loading of large-caliber bombs FAB-1500M54 and FAB-3000M54. These aviation ammunition were distinguished by their solid dimensions. It was necessary to drag heavy bombs into the cargo compartment of the aircraft with the help of winches, placing wooden rollers under them. The width of the bombs in the package exceeded a meter, and the length was more than three meters, which is why the An-12 could take no more than three of them, stacked one after another along the entire length of the cargo compartment.
The most rational from the point of view of covering area and extended targets was the loading of 250 kg and 500 kg of bombs and single-use cluster bombs. An-12 transport aircraft in the role of a heavy bomber in terms of the mass of the bombing volley could be compared with the squadron of Su-7B fighter bombers. Also, the An-12 proved to be very effective in the role of the director of sea mines. The relatively low speed and the possibility of stable flight at low altitude made it possible to lay mines with good accuracy and with relatively little dispersion. The big advantage of transport vehicles in comparison with other specialized attack aircraft was the lower operating and fuel costs when performing the same type of mission.
Bombing from the An-12 could only be carried out from horizontal flight without any maneuvering. The presence of anti-aircraft cover in the target area for a bulky and slow transport aircraft could become fatal. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the 70s, bombing tasks have been included in the training curricula for the crews of military transport aircraft. An-12, inflicting bombing strikes on areas, could perform the task of "cleaning" the landing area, thus reducing possible losses among the paratroopers.
For the first time in a real combat situation, the An-12 was used as a bomber by the Indian Air Force. The crews of the Indian Air Force, whose An-12s were equipped with bombs during the war with Pakistan, in 1971 attacked airfields, weapons depots and fuel and lubricants storage facilities. At the same time, the mass of the combat load reached 16 tons.
After the first successful raids against stationary targets, Indian An-12s switched to night bombing strikes directly against the combat formations of enemy troops. To improve accuracy, bombing was often carried out from low altitudes, which required a lot of courage and professionalism from the pilots. The use of powerful 250-500 kg bombs from low altitudes was a very dangerous business, with a close explosion, the fragments could hit the bomber itself. Therefore, in low-altitude bombing, incendiary napalm tanks were mainly used, their fiery explosions had a strong demoralizing effect on Pakistani soldiers.
An-12 Indian Air Force
The effectiveness of using bomb-laden An-12 transport aircraft at night turned out to be even higher than the British-made Canberra specialized jet bombers. In total, the An-12 of the Indian Air Force made several dozen night combat missions, without losing a single aircraft. The Pakistanis have repeatedly raised Mirage-3 and F-104 fighters to intercept, but the Indian An-12 managed to evade them each time.
The Soviet Air Force actively used the An-12 for bombing during the hostilities in Afghanistan. Unlike attack aircraft and fighter-bombers, which operated at the request of the ground forces, the work of the An-12 was of a routine, planned nature. Loaded with powerful mines, "Anas" rained bombs on fortified areas and rebel bases from a safe height inaccessible to MANPADS and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Of course, the accuracy of such bombing was low, but it was compensated for by the number and caliber of bombs. Some of the fuses for aerial bombs were placed with a deceleration from several hours to several days. This was supposed to complicate the restoration work, and just make it dangerous for the bombed-out person to be in the area. In addition to the reliably known locations of the rebels, caravan routes from Pakistan and Iran were subjected to treatment with large-caliber bombs in order to create impassable blockages and collapse of mountain peaks in the border mountainous regions.
In Afghanistan, unexpectedly, work was found for the airborne gunners of the rear defensive firing point. After several transport aircraft were shot down and damaged by the fire of MANPADS and PGU during takeoff and landing, the airborne gunners began to "comb" the fire of their rapid-fire 23-mm cannons at suspicious places in the vicinity of airfields. How effective it was is difficult to say, but such a precautionary measure, combined with abundantly fired heat traps, had a beneficial effect on the peace of mind of the An-12 crews. After the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from Afghanistan, the Afghan Air Force also practiced bombing from military transport aircraft. But unlike the Soviet Air Force, their bombing strikes were often haphazard and had little success.
In the 90-2000s, created for transportation, An-12 became one of the most belligerent aircraft on the African continent. As of 1998, the Ethiopian Air Force had six An-12s. At the initial stage of the Ethiopian-Eretrian conflict, Ethiopian transport workers repeatedly dropped bombs on the Eretrian armed groups. However, soon after the appearance in Eritrea of the Kvadrat air defense system and the MiG-29 fighters received from Ukraine, the An-12 bombing flights ceased.
Transport aircraft were used very widely for strike purposes during the civil war in Angola from 1992 to 2002. An-12, along with An-26, bombed the positions of the armed detachments of the UNITA movement. Loaded with dozens of bombs and napalm tanks from safe heights, they plowed and burned hectares of jungle. Unable to reach "Ana" on a combat course, UNITA militants began to catch transport aircraft during takeoff and landing, without making a distinction in the nationality of the aircraft. About 20 An-12 and An-26, including those with Russian crews, became victims of MANPADS and anti-aircraft guns in the vicinity of Angolan airfields.
An-12 Angolan Air Force
In the mid-1990s, An-12s in Zaire were bombing the jungle in an attempt to stop anti-government insurgents from attacking the capital of Kinshasa. However, after the overthrow of the dictatorship of President Mobutu in 1997, peace has not come to this country. Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was embroiled in the "Great African War." This large-scale armed conflict, which received little coverage in the world media, was, in fact, provoked by transnational corporations that started a war for the redistribution of the property of the richest natural resources of Central Africa. More than 5 million people became victims of the war, the active phase of which lasted from 1998 to 2002. Large-scale hostilities were conducted by all available means, and the five An-12 aircraft in the DRC air force, which were in flight condition, were actively used as bomb carriers. However, the matter was not without foreign intervention, An-12 of the Angolan Air Force took part in the bombing strikes on the Congolese territory.
Currently, there are not many An-12 transport vehicles located abroad in flight condition. The production of this aircraft was completed more than 40 years ago, and, despite the repeated extension of the resource, their career is coming to an end.
In 1962, the passenger An-24 with two AI-24 turboprop engines went into production. An aircraft weighing about 22,000 kg could carry 50 passengers or 6,500 kg of cargo, over a distance of about 1,500 km.
In addition to the passenger version, the An-24T was produced for cargo transportation and use as a military transport. This aircraft was distinguished by the presence of large doors that facilitated loading and unloading, a cargo hatch in the rear of the fuselage, an increased fuel supply, a reinforced cargo compartment floor, a loading device on the ceiling, and folding seats along the sides. In addition to performing transport tasks, the An-24T could be used as an auxiliary bomber.
In the spring of 1969, at the Crimean airfield Kirovskoye, state tests of the aircraft's bomber armament were carried out. It included four BDZ-34 beam holders, a bomb dropping system and an OPB-1R optical sight. According to the test results, the following conclusion was given: "An-24T bombardment armament provides the ability to bombard bombs with a caliber of not more than 500 kg, with optical visibility of the target at flight speeds of 260 - 480 km / h at altitudes from 600 to 6000 m." That is, as follows from the flight characteristics of the An-24T "bomber", it approximately corresponded in its strike capabilities to long-range bombers of the Second World War. In the same 1969, the An-24Ts delivered to Iraq were used to bomb Kurdish positions. Thus, these machines were the first in their family to take direct part in hostilities.
But much more often the An-26 was used for bombing strikes. This aircraft was a further development of the An-24T and differed from it in the onboard equipment and the tail section of the fuselage with a large cargo hatch, which was closed by a ramp of the original design. It provides a hermetic closure, serves as a ladder when loading self-propelled equipment, can move under the fuselage, allowing loading from a loading platform or a car body.
An-26
In total, from 1969 to 1986, 1398 vehicles of various modifications were built, including for export. After the start of operation of the aircraft in the USSR Air Force, the question arose about its use as an auxiliary bomber. In the first half of 1972, the An-26 was practicing the installation of bomber weapons. For this, the car was equipped with an NKPB-7 sight, four BDZ-34 beam holders and equipment for dropping bombs. As a result of the work carried out on the An-26, it became possible to use a large number of suspension options, including various bombs with a caliber of up to 500 kg. The external suspension of the bombs slightly reduced the rate of climb and maximum speed, but practically did not affect the stability characteristics of the aircraft and controllability.
For aiming when dropping loads and bombing, the NKPB-7 sight and a short-range navigation radar system operating in the mode of viewing the earth's surface and the front hemisphere are intended.
Twin-engine An-26s were used as a bomber even more often than the larger An-12s. The first to "sniff gunpowder" happened to An-26 of the Ethiopian Air Force. In July 1977, the "twenty-sixths" took part in repelling the aggression of the Somali troops. After the conquest of air supremacy by Ethiopian fighters, in addition to supplying their units, the Anas were involved in bombing enemy positions. In subsequent years, Ethiopian An-26s were often used against various rebel groups and separatists inside the country.
From 1976 to 1984, 24 An-26 aircraft were delivered to Angola. During the incessant civil war, "transports" were actively used as bombers. Mostly Cuban crews flew to bomb the positions of the UNITA anti-government group. In especially tense moments, the Cubans had to carry out 4-6 sorties a day. Several Angolan vehicles were lost during takeoff and landing, as well as during the shelling of airfields.
In the first half of the 80s, eight An-26s were acquired by Mozambique, where a civil war was also going on for a long time. Here, too, there was a lot of work for the "twenty-sixths" acting as bombers.
In 1977, 16 An-26s were received by the Peruvian military. They were very interested in the striking capabilities of transport vehicles. In the presence of specialists from the USSR, in 1979, experimental discharges of tanks filled with water were carried out. Soon in 1981, the skills obtained as a result of these experiments were put into practice by the Peruvian An-26 crews during the armed conflict with Ecuador. The Peruvians loaded 16 barrels of napalm onto a transporter installed in the An-26's cargo hold and then very effectively used them to destroy enemy positions in the hard-to-reach jungle. In the future, the An-26s acted in a similar way against the ultra-leftist terrorist group "Sendero Luminoso".
Nicaragua became the next Latin American buyer of the An-26. From 1982 to 1985, this country received 5 "twenty-sixths". They were actively used for reconnaissance and bombing of areas where anti-government "contras" were concentrated.
The Vietnamese An-26, in addition to delivering goods to support the actions of the military contingent in Cambodia, flew out for reconnaissance and bombed the camps and detachments of Pol Pot people hiding in the jungle.
An-26s of various nationalities carried out bombing strikes during the already mentioned "Great African War", which raged in the late 90s and early 2000s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the participation of military contingents from Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola.
From 2011 to 2012, international observers recorded numerous cases of using the An-26 as a bomb carrier in South Sudan. The aircraft of the Sudanese government air force, operating at altitudes of over 4,000 meters, carried out several dozen sorties. As reported, the Sudanese aircraft participating in the raids have undergone revision in order to optimally use them as bomb carriers. In this case, the bombs were loaded into the cargo compartment and dropped through the cargo hatch in the rear of the aircraft. In addition to standard aviation ammunition, handicraft bombs filled with ammonium nitrate and incendiary liquids were widely used.
The attacks were carried out mainly on settlements and South Sudanese troops in the South Kordofan region. International observers have repeatedly recorded cases of bombing of refugee camps and purely civilian objects, but each time the authorities in Khartoum denied this. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is accused of numerous war crimes. In 2008, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on charges of genocide and ethnic cleansing during the fighting in Darfur. Thus, al-Bashir became the first incumbent head of state against whom charges were brought by the body of international justice.
The Sudanese An-26 raids stopped after the S-125 air defense missile systems delivered from Uganda were deployed in South Sudan. Uganda purchased four S-125 air defense systems and 300 missiles from Ukraine in 2008.
Recently, in connection with the aggravated international situation and a general increase in the level of combat training, the strike use of the An-26 of the Russian Aerospace Forces is being practiced. The transformation of a military transport aircraft into a bomber does not take much time: for this, special pylons are attached, thanks to which the aircraft can take four bombs weighing from 50 to 500 kilograms.
The development of the use of bomb weapons on the An-26 in our Air Force was introduced more than 40 years ago. But with the beginning of the process of "reforming" the armed forces for more than 20 years, such trainings were stopped, and now it has been decided to resume them. The use of the An-26 military transport aircraft as a night bomber is one of the most difficult combat training tasks of the crew combat training course. In the course of combat training, it is envisaged to practice the delivery of bomb strikes against ground and sea targets.
Bombing from the An-26 is carried out in the altitude range of 1200-3000 meters, at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. To get an excellent score, the bomb must hit a circle with a diameter of 63 meters. Another exercise involves training bombing from an altitude of 500-900 meters at a group of targets imitating an enemy tank column. In both cases, the NKPB-7 sights are used. The defeat of targets using this rather old sight does not require the use of radar equipment and allows you to perform a combat mission at night as stealthily as possible.
Such trainings have recently taken place in a number of aviation units operating the An-26. In August 2015, pilots of transport aviation of the Baltic Fleet performed a training flight for combat use. They practiced bombing at the command post of a simulated enemy. In October 2015, an An-26 military transport aircraft, during a training session near St. Petersburg, successfully hit targets imitating enemy tanks.
In Soviet times, aircraft of the "An" brand were the hallmark of the Soviet aviation industry and were operated in dozens of countries, demonstrating high efficiency and reliability. The construction of the An-12 in the first half of the 70s was discontinued due to the appearance of the Il-76, which later became the main aircraft for the Airborne Forces. In connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ambitions of the Ukrainian authorities, the project of the promising An-70 turboprop was buried. Also, there is still no adequate replacement for the passenger An-24 and the military transport An-26. Due to the aging of the aircraft fleet and the sad events in Ukraine, in the next 10 years, aircraft of the "An" brand will most likely become a rarity in our skies.
