Meet the An-12 Black Tulip

The Origin and Role of the An-12

First taking flight in 1957, the Antonov An-12 was a tactical transport aircraft akin to the American C-130 Hercules. A rugged aircraft, it was the mainstay for the Soviet/Russian Air Force transport fleet for a very long time and is still in use today.

Service During the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

But it was during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where the aircraft would be used to transport Soviet troops and their equipment into the country. However, it was also during this time that the aircraft would earn a rather unfortunate reputation.

You see, as the war in Afghanistan began to heat up and the USSR began to lose more men, the issue of returning the dead back to the Motherland came up. Due to its ability to land at most airstrips around Afghanistan, the An-12 more or less became the aircraft of choice to evacuate the dead. It was during this time the An-12 was dubbed “The Black Tulip.”

The Legend of “The Black Tulip”

No one is really sure just how the name came to be, but it’s believed that it originated from the Afghan military tradition of printing obituaries framed with black desert flowers. However, the name didn’t really catch on with the public until Soviet singer Alexander Rosenbaum wrote the song “Black Tulip,” after he found out that some crates he had helped load onto an An-12 contained dead soldiers.

So yea… If you were a Russian soldier flying on the Black Tulip, you were most likely dead.

~NC