An-22 Antei - Post Cold War

After the collapse of the USSR, several Anteevs remained in Ukraine. As Ivanovo housed the An-22 overhaul facility, it also seemed to be the place where the An-22's end their days.

In 1993, on an aircraft RA-08839 (0201), when carrying out transportation from Baltic airfields after takeoff from the Panevezys airfield (ship commander Lieutenant Colonel V.E. Mikhailovsky, assistant ship commander Captain Shpakov V., ship navigator Major S.B. Latun, onboard engineer captain Yarovoy V.A.) the retracted position lamp of the right front main landing gear did not light up. By visual inspection through the windows in the landing gear niches, the crew determined that the strut shock absorber had ruptured. The stand hung on one bracket. There was no way to remove the stand in flight. In order to reduce the landing weight as much as possible, the crew was asked to land at their Ivanovo-Severny airfield. Thanks to the skill of the ship's commander, the landing was made with minor damage to the aircraft. The shock absorber and landing gear doors were replaced.

An-22 No. 0101 (USSR-46191, UR-64459) and 0103 (USSR-56391, UR-64460) served their time. Machine No. 0203 had been in disassembled condition since 1993. "Antey" No. 0509 (former USSR-09307) continues to operate, having the registration number UR-09307 . The service life of the An-22 aircraft No. 0103 was extended to 33 years. In 1992, it was leased for six months by the Bulgarian airline Air Sofia, where it flew under the registration number LZ-SG. Kurlin V.Yu. and Lysenko V. performed flights on it to many countries, in particular, they transported Mi-8 helicopters to the Seychelles. In 1997, An-22 No. 0103 supported the construction of the An-140 aircraft in Kyiv: in February it delivered a wing from Kharkov, and in September it delivered an engine from Zaporozhye.

On December 28, 1999, An-22 No. 0103 (UR-64460) was transferred to the Technik-Museum Speyer in the German city of Speyer. The crew of OKB test pilot V. Goncharov had a difficult task: to land a heavy aircraft on a runway only 1000 m long, and the approach had to be made on a Test run 0103steep glide path, because At both ends of the runway, at a short distance, there were residential buildings and an ancient cathedral. After completing two test runs, the plane landed safely. This once again confirms the uniqueness of "Anthea".

"Antey" No. 0509 (UR-09307) in February 1995 made a rough landing with a roll in Khartoum (Sudan), as a result of which one of the power beams securing the main landing gear was deformed. The aircraft was restored using a beam from aircraft No. 0203, and was put back into service in October 1996.

The event of the transfer of aircraft No. 0103 evokes conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it’s good that “Antey” fell into good hands and will decorate the museum’s collection, and will not go to scrap metal, like the 81st aircraft. On the other hand, it’s a shame that in Russia, except for the Air Force Museum in Monino (which is not so easy to get into), there is not a single aviation museum accessible to ordinary people! At the 308 ARZ in Ivanovo, the An-22 RA-08830 (0702) was restored for the VTA museum (based on 610 pulp and paper and plc). At one time, this aircraft, owned by the 8th Airborne Troops, underwent a major overhaul, but the repair was not completed due to lack of funding.

As statistics show, on average, only 20% of Anteevs carried out freight transportation (average trip load - 22.5 tons). The remaining aircraft were idle for modifications, or were used for training flights. The leading aircraft did not even fly 5,000 hours. Thus, the significant potential of the An-22 fleet was unclaimed. Nowadays, the Russian Air Force’s lack of funds necessary to extend its operation has led to an unprecedented decision to write off vehicles of the 1st, 2nd, and partially the 3rd and 4th series, which had reached the end of their service life (25 years).

At the end of 2001, according to the directive, only one separate squadron remained from the 8th Guards Vtap (76th Guards). The commander of this separate squadron was the former deputy commander of the 81st brigade, Lieutenant Colonel V.V. Borisenko. A storage base for An-22 aircraft has been established at the Migalovo airfield. At this base there are aircraft of the disbanded 81st Vtap that flew on January 21, 1998 and non-flying aircraft of the 8th Vtap. According to the plans of the command, in 2006-2007 it was planned to return to operation of An-22 aircraft, carrying out work on them to modify the equipment and extend their service life. It is hard to believe that by that time the airframe of the aircraft will not be completely destroyed by corrosion. Proof of this is the fact that representatives of the Antonov Design Bureau, who inspected two An-22 aircraft Nos. RA-08833 and RA-08835 8 Vtap, stood idle at the Ivanovo-Severny airfield for more than six years with the aim of restoring, purchasing and ferrying them to Ukraine.

The planes were in a deplorable condition, the places where duralumin and steel come into contact are completely corroded. Representatives of the Antonov Design Bureau abandoned their idea. Currently, there are 4 flying An-22s left in the Russian military aviation aviation, the service life of which has been extended to 35 years. The remaining non-flying aircraft of the former 8 Vtap are in Tver, 9 aircraft of the 81 Vtap were transported to Tver, and 19 aircraft of the 81 Vtap were cut into metal. Due to the lack of funding and spare parts, 308 ARZ was unable to assemble the Antei, which were overhauled and disposed of.

According to the latest data, they decided not to finalize “Anthea”. According to Colonel General Mikhailov, “An-22 aircraft are working out their service life and leaving.”

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).

Russia grounded the Antonov An-22 and Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft following the crash of an An-22 during a training flight on 28 December 2010. The aircraft came down near Troitskoye in the Tula region, in the southwest of the country. The fact that the Air Force has decided to ground all Tu-95s suggests that engine failure is strongly suspected as the cause - both aircraft types share the Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop, the largest engine of its kind in the world. "In order to maintain safety in using these aircraft, which both use this engine, the air force command has decided to suspend operations until the reason for the accident is clear," an Air Force spokesman said.

The An-22 departed from Voronezh airport at 21.00 on Tuesday for the Migalovo airport in Tver region but disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after departure. The remains of the aircraft were found near the village of Krasny Oktyabr in Tula region, about 100 km from Tula.

By one report, the Russian VTA retained only four flying AN-22, a resource which was extended to 35 years. The remaining flightless aircraft stood in the open air at the airport in Tver Migalovo and corrode. Another 19 of them had already been cut for scrap.