Carrying the NATO reporting name Cock, the An-22 is a very large, long-range heavy transport. It flew for the first time in February 1965, at which time it was the largest transport aircraft in the world. Deliveries to both the Soviet Air Force and Aeroflot were completed during 1974, with the military air transport force (VTA) receiving between 30 and 50 aircraft. The An-22 is used widely in the underdeveloped areas of the northern USSR, Siberia and the Far East. Accommodation is for a crew of five or six, 28-29 passengers in the cabin and freight. Maximum payload is 80 000kg.

In October 1967 an An-22 established 14 payload-to-height records. With a payload of 100,000kg of metal blocks it reached a height of 7,848m, thereby qualifying also for the intermediate records from 35,000kg. Max payload lifted to a height of 2,000m was 104,444.6kg. A take-off run of just over one kilometre was reported; the flight duration was 78 minutes.

In 1972 a further series of ten records for speed with payload were set up by Marina Popovich, wife of the Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich. The aircraft averaged a speed of 593.318km/h around a 2,000km closed circuit with a 50,000kg payload, qualifying also for the intermediate records from 30,000kg. In addition the aircraft averaged a speed of 608.449km/h in a flight two days later around a 1,000km circuit with the same payload. The An-22 also holds three further records for speed with payload over a 5,000km circuit, established in 1974 and 1975.