A very pretty silver coloured metal and enamel pin badge from Antonov, the Ukrainian aircraft Manufacturer. The badge face is 1.4cm high and has a long, stick pin style fastener to the rear.
The badge face has the text CCCP and the text ANTEI which is the nickname of the Antonov AN-22.
The AN-22 first appeared at the 1965 Paris Airshow and is still used as a strategic airlifter to this day.
Historical Background
The Antonov Design Bureau was established in 1946 in Novosibirsk as a top-secret Soviet Research and Design Bureau No. 153, headed by Oleg Antonov and specialised in turboprop military transport aircraft.
The An-2 biplane is a major achievement of this period with hundreds of aircraft still operated as of 2013.
In 1952, the Bureau was relocated to Kiev, a city with a rich aviation history. In 1957, the bureau successfully introduced the An-10/An-12 family of mid-range turboprop aeroplanes into mass production. The model having seen combat and civil use around the globe to the present day, most notably during the Vietnam War, Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Chernobyl disaster relief operation.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the company established itself as USSR's main designer of military transport aircraft with dozens of new modifications in development and production.
