[Drew68]

I believe the US has on occasion hired the Antonov for military and space payloads we lack the capacity to airlift. The gigantic cockpit is really something.

We hire them regularly. We just don't have anything that big. I've seen them land at naval air stations in both San Diego and Jacksonville. Really something to behold. Just incredibly enormous machines.

[cunning_fish]

It’s “little” C-5ski brother An-124 has little problem with running out of runway on both take-off and landing.

There are some built-in off-road capabilities:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6bKCsJd2K0