 {| |} the antonov an-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 was made in many variants. ==design and development==   the first prototype flew in december 1957. over 900 had been built, in both military and civilian versions, before production finally ended in 1973. the an-12bp entered soviet military service in 1959. in terms of configuration, size and capability, the aircraft is similar to the united states-built lockheed c-130 hercules. military soviet and former-soviet examples have a defensive tail gun turret. ===chinese production===  in the 1960s china purchased several an-12 aircraft from the soviet union, along with a license to assemble the aircraft locally. however, due to the sino-soviet split, the soviet union withdrew its technical assistance. it was not until 1974 that the first chinese-assembled an-12 had its maiden flight. the xi'an aircraft company and xi'an aircraft design institute worked to reverse-engineer the an-12 for local production. in 1981, the chinese copy version of the an-12, designated y-8, 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 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 made in russia or ukraine, the y-8 continues to be upgraded and produced 
1959_introductions Antonov_aircraft Four-engined_tractor_aircraft High-wing_aircraft Soviet_cargo_aircraft_1950a1959 Soviet_military_transport_aircraft_1950a1959 Turboprop_aircraft