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To many people, the Antonov 2 is something that harkens back to the First World War’s biplanes, but it was developed after the Second World War (first flight 31AUG1947), soldiered on through the undeclared Cold War and continues flying for militaries on both sides of the Ukraine Crisis.
A proud Oleg Antonov stands between the crew that flew the An-2 on its first flight. Photo via Antonov Company.
The crop duster was a top loader. Photo via Antonov Company.
Photo via Antonov Company.
Round them doggies up! There’s almost as many ‘Colts’ as there are cows! Photo via Antonov Company.
Silly music video by Antonov Company:
Photo via Antonov Company.
Since 1948, the ‘Maize’ has been produced in several dozens of factories in dozens of countries, with at least six official modifications resulting in dozens of silly-vilian (civilian) and military variants. The NATO reporting name is Colt. Colt = An-2, 3, 4, 6, plus many other variants. In China it is known as Y-5, and they even built a pilotless/robot version called Feihong 98.
An-2CX, photo via Antonov Company.
Even Santa Claus uses the Maize/Colt to transport his reindeer! Photo via Antonov Company.
An-6 fire fighter, photo via Antonov Company.
This odd looking Maize/Colt is the An-6 Meteo, high altitude weather tracker. Notice the cockpit in the tail, and the supercharged radial engine. Photo via Antonov Company.
Mount McCauley, Antarctica, 1973. Photo via John Sheraton.
A Warsaw Pact Polska (Poland) built PZL Maize/Colt floatplane, known as An-2M or An-2W in Poland (in the Soviet Union it is An-2V). What is realy interesting is that the NATO info published with this photo (in 1978) actually stated that the floatplane version was “rather rare”.
Sometime during the Cold War, in Warsaw Pact Deutsche Demokratische Republik (aka East Germany) fighter pilots were required to learn how to jump from a Colt.
In Warsaw Pact Československo (Czech-o-Slovakia), silly-vilian (civilian) parachute clubs were the rage, and the Colt was a major player. Photo made sometime in 1979.
SlovAir operated Colts were used by silly-vilian parachute clubs in Warsaw Pact Czech-o-Slovakia. Photo made sometime in 1980.
Czech-o-Slovaks loved parachuting so much they even jumped during Winter. Photo from Winter of 1979/80.
A Soviet agriculture Maize gets dusted. Photos by V. Jukl, sometime in 1980.
Ready for dusting. Photo by V. Jukl, sometime in 1980.
Antonov Company video, sometime towards the end of the undeclared Cold War, a mini-documentary was made about O. K. Antonov’s love of designing aircraft (in his own words), including his Maize:
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union). The Western NATO (North Atlantic treaty Organization) must not have considered the Colt a significant aircraft, I have several books concerning Soviet aircraft, published in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s, only two slightly mention the An-2 and only one has a photo of it.
Last days of a former Warsaw Pact-East German Colt. In 1990, East & West Germany officially became one, but many East German aircraft continued to carry their Cold War insignia. East German An-2s were quietly retired.
Colt cargo aircraft on display U.S. Air Mobility Command Museum on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Zachary Cacicia, 15NOV2014.
Video report from 2016, about conversion of old Russian Colt/Maize to U.S. turbo-prop engines (made by Honeywell) and redesigned wings:
The composite winged TVS-2DT, Rostec photo.
Video report from 2016, about the new build TVS-2DT, an attempt to modernize the An-2:
Antonov Company video, An-2-100 turbo-prop sets lift record, April 2017:
Antonov Company video, celebrating 70 years of An-2, September 2017:
This Russian civilian Maize crashed in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, December 2017. It was loaded with 13 crew and passengers, three of which did not survive.
CGTN video report of Feihong-98 (FH-98) cargo UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), October 2018:
In 2018, Russia’s Rostec State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology, announced production of a new ‘An-2’, called the TVS-2DTS. First deliveries were expected in 2021, but oh that darn Pandemic lockdown.
Composite wing and fuselage TVS-2DTS, Rostec photo 2018.
The difference between the TVS-2DT and the TVS-2DTS is that the 2DTS has all composite wings and fuselage, whereas the 2DT has composite wings.
A Colt makes an ‘after hours’ drop to U.S. and Latvian Special Forces units during a wargame. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Garrett L. Dipuma, 22NOV2020.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 05MAR2021.
Serbian paratroops make their first jump from a Colt, February 2022. Photo via Serbian Defence Ministry.
NATO Latvian An-2, notice the large muffler on the exhaust. Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 03MAY2022.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 03MAY2022.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 03MAY2022.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 03MAY2022.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 03MAY2022.
A privately owned An-2 performs during the Sivrihisar Airshow in NATO Turkey, 17SEP2022. Photo by Mustafa Kaya via Xinhua News.
A child of California seems excited to in the cockpit of an old Colt/Maize, part of the air show on Edwards Air Force Base. USAF photo by Lisa Dixon, 15OCT2022.
On 14NOV2022, a Cold War era Cuban An-2 crashed while taking off from Florida, U.S. It was later discovered that the same Antonov had arrived in Florida the prior month, possibly the pilot was trying to defect to the U.S.:
A bigger Antonov, this time in use by the United States?:
Believe it or not, little Republic of Latvia doesn’t have any main battle tanks. The closest thing it has is the M109A5Ö self propelled artillery gun, and the Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle-Tracked FV107 Scimitar recon/scout tank. Latvia also uses the CVR-T FV104 Samaritan ambulance, the FV103 Spartan personnel carrier and several other versions of the CRV-T.
This May 2014 Latvijas Armija video explains the different CVR-Ts in use:
Latvian Minister of Defense gets taken for a ride in a British made FV107 Scimitar. Michigan Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Helen Miller, 28APR2016.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo, 18NOV2017.
Latvijas Armija video about deployment to NATO United Kingdom for a ‘friendly’ (wargame), May 2018:
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 08NOV2019.
Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Armīns Janiks, 13JAN2020.
During a NATO wargame, 13JAN2020. Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Armīns Janiks.
Latvijas Armija video showing FV107 Scimitars and FV103 Spartan personnel carriers in action, June 2020:
FV107 on public display, 21AUG2021. Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš.
FV104 Samaritan. Latvian Defence Ministry photo by Gatis Dieziņš, 26OCT2021.
Latvia relies on other NATO countries to bring in the big Main Battle Tanks, in case of invasion. NATO Canada commands NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia (which might explain Latvia’s use of British empire English, instead of U.S. English). The CRV-T series is a British empire made vehicle, designed and built in the United Kingdom during the undeclared Cold War. Latvia continues to receive upgraded versions of the CRV-T.
U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Junior, 17AUG2022.
On 24AUG2022, the United States Air Force (USAF) boasted of acquiring its first ever USAF developed helicopter, except that was far from the truth. The truth is that the USAF spent two years assessing a 20+ years old helicopter design that is already in use by NATO members and even Russia! It is actually built by a NATO Italy aerospace company; Leonardo (aka Leonardo Helicopters).
USAF photo by Samuel King Junior, 17AUG2022.
On 17AUG2022, the MH-139A Grey Wolf took its first official flight as a USAF air asset, from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The assessment process began in December 2019.
Overly dramatic USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Philip Bryant, about the name Grey Wolf, and why it is so important to the USAF to buy a foreign helicopter, 19DEC2019:
The MH-139A will replace the USAF’s aging fleet of U.S. Army developed Viet Nam/Cold War era Bell (now known as Bell Textron) UH-1N ‘Huey’ rotary wings.
USAF photo by Samuel King Junior, 17AUG2022.
USAF video report by Jennifer Vollmer & Jaime Bishopp, 17AUG2022:
The USAF tries to make it sound like the MH-139A Grey Wolf is a U.S. helicopter, while the contract was issued to Boeing, even Boeing admits it isn’t the one building the helicopter! The Pratt & Whitney turbines are made in NATO Canada, the transmission parts are built in NATO United Kingdom and in Japan, NATO Turkey builds the major fuselage parts, and final assembly is done by Leonardo Helicopters! (Leonardo boasts about its international supply chain)
Over in NATO Europe it is known as the AW139 (AgustaWestland 139). The AW139 was the creation of AgustaWestland. During the Cold War, and the 1990s, Agusta and Westland were separate companies. In 2000 they merged into one company, and in 2016 the name was changed to Leonardo.
In the late 1990s, Bell Textron and AgustaWestland worked together to create a new helicopter to compete against rivals Sikorsky and Eurocopter. The first version was called AB139/BA309, then finally AW139. The first AW139 flew in 2001. AgustaWestland even opened a final assembly factory in the United States (now known as AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation, aka Leonardo Helicopters Pennsylvania), and changed the name of the helicopter to US139, to try and increase their competition with U.S. based Sikorsky, and NATO Europe based Eurocopter, for a U.S. Army contract. The competition was lost to Eurocopter’s UH-72 Lakota. In 2005, AgustaWestland bought out Bell Textron’s interest in the AW139. By the end of 2012, AgustaWestland began building AW139s in Russia, the sworn enemy of NATO! (On March 2022, Leonardo Helicopters halted production in Russia.)
Justin Trudeau, along with Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, stand in front of a Canadian F-101 VooDoo gate guard while giving Canadian military personnel a pep-talk. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Benjamin Wiseman, 07JUN2022.
Canada is a founding member of NATO, and Canada is part of the Commonwealth of Nations (aka British empire, most Commonwealth of Nations members use an image of the British monarch on their currency). On 07JUN2022, the arrogant (proven by his handling of the anti-mandates Freedom Convoys) Prime Minister of NATO Canada, Justin Pierre James Trudeau, arrived on Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.
Inside the alternate operations center. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Thomas Paul, 07JUN2022.
He was in town to inspect the headquarters of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (aka NorAD, Nor=North, A=American or Aerospace[?], D=Defense, and for some reason they leave off the C. Formerly known as North American Air Defense Command.) NorAD is a joint operation between Canada and the United States. Since 1958, NorAD’s purpose is to defend against enemy airborne attacks, mainly from Soviet Union, then so-called terrorists flying airliners, and now Russia.
The Canadian ‘leader’ was given a souvenir piece of rock left over from the Cold War days when the once secret Cheyenne Mountain complex was built. USDoD photo by Thomas Paul, 07JUN2022.
Tunnel walk through Cheyenne Mountain.(From left to right) Steve Galayda, Space Base Delta 1 Engineer. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. USAF General Glen VanHerck, current Commander of NorAD. USDoD photo by Thomas Paul, 07JUN2022.
U.S. Army photo by Markus Rauchenberger, 20JUL2022.
Update 2022: Poland’s 2nd Battalion, 5th Artillery Brigade, conduct live-fire on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, 20JUL2022. U.S. Army video by Markus Rauchenberger:
USA photo by Markus Rauchenberger, 20JUL2022.
Quick U.S. Army video by Christoph Koppers, 19JUL2022:
USA photo by Markus Rauchenberger, 20JUL2022.
Photo via Poland Ministry of Defense.
U.S. Army video, by Master Sergeant Ryan Matson and Grzegorz Czaplicki, near Torun, Poland, 19MAY2021:
NATO Poland took two self propelled artillery gun systems, one from NATO United Kingdom and the other from Korea (South) and put them together, and called it the Krab.
April 2021 video by Bogusław Politowski / ZbrojnaTV (Polska Zbronjna-Poland Armed), giving you an ‘inside’ look at the Krab:
Photo by Arkadiusz Dwulatek/Combat Camera Poland, June 2020.
Photo by Waldemar Młynarczyk/Combat Camera Poland, June 2020.
Presidenski Range in Trzebian, Poland. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Dustin D. Biven, 29NOV2017.
Poland got Krabs in 2012, this video posted in December 2012 shows the public display of the Krabs, along with a rocket artillery launch. Pay attention, the hulls on these 2012 Krabs are different than the newer Krabs:
Despite a few ‘Western countries’ following the lead of the U.S. and halting purchase of Russian Natural Gas, NATO Germany is among many European Union/NATO countries that continue to buy Russian Gas, and they are using Euros.
On 29MAR2022, Russia resumed shipments of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) to NATO Bulgaria.
It was also reported in Russian news media that the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Presidential Press Secretary (aka Kremlin spokesperson) Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov said Russia was about to require that all foreign purchases of Russian natural resources, and refined resources, (basically anything that comes out of Russia) had to be made in Rubles. This requirement reportedly will begin on 31MAR2022.
It’s beginning to look like the Ukraine Crisis is actually about destroying U.S. dominance of the global economy.
26 March 2022 (21:32-UTC-07 Tango 06) 06 Farvardin 1401/22 Sha’ban 1443/24 Gui Mao 4720
On 26MAR2022, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NavCent) announced that NATO Romania has joined the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), and is taking part in an operation known as Coalition Task Force Sentinel.
IMSC was formed in July 2019, to protect the oil shipping lanes coming from The Middle East. Coalition Task Force Sentinel specifically focuses on the choke-points of Bab al-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz.
Besides the United States, and now Romania, IMSC members include Albania, Bahrain, Estonia, Lithuania, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.
“What the U.S. report says about China’s Taiwan region is a gross interference in China’s internal affairs and violation of the one-China principle and the basic norms governing international relations. We are firmly opposed to that.”-Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, China’s Ministry of National Defense, 24FEB2022
“If a nation’s defense authorities are obsessed with confrontation and deliberately make waves in the South China Sea, what it will lose is not just the next decade, but also its international credibility and the opportunities to cooperate with regional countries.”-Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, China’s Ministry of National Defense, 24FEB2022, referring to the recently created U.S., U.K. and Australia military pact called AUKUS (Australia United Kingdom United States)
NEW YORK DISCOVERS M-R-N-A IN MOTHER’S MILK! FLORIDA WARNS INCREASE DEATHS FOR MEN FROM M-R-N-A!
