The ANT-25 was designed as the result of a recommendation by Kliment Voroshilov to the Revolutionary Military Council Revvoyensovyet on 7 December 1931, to build an aircraft for long-range flights.

A sloping concrete runway, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) in length, was built at Schelkovo air base near Moscow.

They then steadily increased their altitude to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), maintaining an average speed of 165 kilometres per hour (103 mph).

After approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi), an oil leak was discovered, but the aircraft was able to make an emergency landing at Krechevits near Novgorod.

Baydukov briefed Chkalov on the finer points of flying the ANT-25 and proposed Alexander Belyakov, who was the chief instructor of their flight academy, as their third crewman.

In July 1936, the record was broken by Chkalov, Georgy Baydukov and Belyakov flying the same aircraft from Moscow to the Far East (Stalin's Route) in 56 hours 20 minutes, a distance of 9,374 kilometres (5,825 mi).

Gromov was ordered to fly to Brazil on 14 August 1936 in a second ANT-25, but as he prepared for the start on 25 September, Brazilian officials denied access to the Soviet plane, and the flight was cancelled.

Over 18–20 June 1937 – the same crew of pilot Valery Chkalov, co-pilot Georgi Baidukov and navigator Alexander Belyakov made a non-stop flight [ru] from Moscow to Portland, United States, in bad weather.

The record set by the Soviets was broken by two British Vickers Wellesley bombers which flew from Egypt to Australia in November 1938; a distance of 11,523.9 kilometres (7,160.6 mi).

[9] The USSR did not continue the race as aviation design bureau work was stalled by repression: Tupolev was jailed, and Gromov was also on the brink of arrest.

The wide-span wings gave the aircraft good range and fuel-efficiency, and they could also house large fuel tanks.

Research was conducted into special forms of vibration of the aircraft because of the longer wings and at a speed greater than some critical point – the so-called flutter effect.

According to the archives, the idea of a military variant of the RD first came to the engineer Zhemchuzhin of the 7th sector of the Soviet Air Force Scientific Research Institute.

However, its slow speed, low altitude, poor maneuverability and large wingspan made it a perfect target for fighters and anti-aircraft guns.