How Antonov Upgraded The An-2 To Produce The An-3

A new turboprop engine and other mechanical modifications improved upon a classic utility aircraft.


Photo: Aeroprints via Wikimedia Commons

Antonov is known for manufacturing military transport aircraft and developing the world’s largest airplane, the An-225 Mriya. While the latter project garnered worldwide attention, much less is known about Antonov’s efforts to upgrade one of its prominent military aircraft models—the An-2. Let’s explore the history and key features of the Antonov An-3.

Foundation of the An-2

Antonov Design Bureau was founded in 1946 and named for its director, Oleg Antonov. It gained notoriety during the Soviet era for producing the single-engine biplane utility aircraft, the An-2. The first flight of the An-2 took place on August 31, 1947, and was hailed as a remarkable achievement. It lent itself well to multiple purposes and was prized for its ability to take off and land on short or otherwise less-than-ideal runways.

The An-2 was originally intended for use by the Soviet Ministry of Forestry, but Antonov produced variants of the base model that have been used for combat and ambulatory purposes. It used the Shvetsov Ash-62 radial engine, a variant of the Wright Cyclone engine, that was produced under a license. The transport version of the An-2 can seat 12 passengers.

The An-3 upgrade project

After moving its headquarters to Kyiv, Ukraine, Antonov began exploring ways to iterate on its workhorse utility aircraft, the An-2. The primary upgrade was the engine. The An-2’s 1,010-hp radial engine was replaced by the 1,375-shp turboprop engine. It is one of few turbine-powered biplane designs.

The An-3’s maximum range was 1,200 kilometers, 300 kilometers more than that of the An-2. Its cruising speed was 250 kilometers per hour, compared to 185 kilometers per hour for the An-2. While slightly longer than the An-2, the dimensions of the An-3 are otherwise the same as its predecessor. Antonov made several additional upgrades, including new navigation equipment, a warning system, and modifications to the cockpit.

The An-3 had its inaugural flight on May 13, 1980. Progress on the project then stalled for several years, and the flight-testing process would not be completed until ten years later. In the late 1990s, Polyot State Aerospace Enterprise, a Russian state-owned aerospace engineering corporation, took over the production and sale of the aircraft. Ultimately, three variants based on the standard transport version were produced, including the An-3TK for cargo and passenger transport, the An-3SH for agricultural use, and the An-3P for fighting forest fires.

It is uncertain as to why interest in the An-3 waned after the initial model was developed, but only 25 of the aircraft were built. Interestingly, Antonov did not abandon its efforts to innovate on the An-2. In 2017, a test flight was conducted for the new An-2-100 variant, which had the same frame as the An-2 but is powered by an MS-14 1,500-shp turboprop engine. The new engine runs on aviation kerosene rather than gasoline, which the company found to be more cost-effective.