[3] It was explicitly stated in the requirement that the envisioned aircraft was to be both more efficient and modern than the existing Antonov An-2SKh and An-2R, of which tens of thousands had been produced primarily to perform this role.

[4] During 1971, following an agreement between the Soviet Union and Poland on the matter, the Polish aircraft manufacturer WSK Mielec set about developing its own original response to the requirement.

[7] According to aviation author Krzysztof Luto, the highly unusual decision to adopt jet engine propulsion for the prospective aircraft had been at the insistence of Soviet officials, who also actively participated in the design process.

[4] It was recognised from the onset that use of a jet engine for a relatively slow agricultural biplane posed several problems that would need to be addressed, including unforgiving handling and maintenance issues.

[6] Performing its first flight on 10 February 1972, this aircraft comprised the whole forward section of an An-2, together with its wings, while the rear part was cut off and replaced with a frame construction that housed a single Ivchenko-Progress AI-25 turbofan engine (as used on the tri-engined Yakovlev Yak-40 and the single-engined Aero L-39 Albatros fighter-trainer).

[7] The M-15 was publicly displayed at the Paris Air Show of 1976; it has been claimed that it was at this event that the aircraft received its popular nickname of "Belphegor", a result of its strange appearance and noisy jet engine propulsion.

At one stage, Soviet agriculture planners had intended to order as many as 3,000 aircraft to meet its needs; however, operations of the M-15 under real world circumstances proved to be a largely disappointing experience.

[7] For the crop-dusting mission, the M-15 could accommodate a payload of just under three tons of pesticides within two sizable pylons that separated its two wings; chemical dispersal was achieved via compressed air.

[4] This storage system was relatively unorthodox, the conventional An-2 simply stored these in a single tank housed within the fuselage in a space that could be reused for various other cargoes if not fitted.