IL-76 Returns Home
Russia plans to set up local production of Ilyushin’s heavy transport aircraft
Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia plans to revive its transport aviation production capabilities with local assembly of Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. In the Soviet era these airplanes used to be assembled at the TAPO plant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government a few years ago refused to hand TAPO under the control of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC); the facility is to be closed on January 1, 2012.
This year the Tashkent plant has rolled out one stretched Il-76MF, the second aircraft of this version ordered by Jordan. The first one has already been delivered to Jordan International Air Cargo. The last two airframes to be assembled at TAPO will be Il-76TD-90VDs for Russia’s Volga-Dnepr cargo operator.
UAC plans to set up a Russian assembly line for the new Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A military transport, also known as Il-476 or Item 476. This aircraft will be in fact a heavily modernized version of the Il-76MD military transport that has been in service with the Russian Air Force for more than 20 years. According to Vladimir Belyakov, deputy head of the Ilyushin design bureau, the modernization will include a reinforced wing and new engines, an upgraded landing gear and a new avionics suite. With this upgrade the designers expect to increase the aircraft’s payload from the current 50 t to 60 t, extend its flight range by 27%, and reduce fuel consumption by 18%.
The first flying and static-test prototypes are being assembled at the UAC-controlled Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP facility. The roll-out of the first flying Il-76MD-90A is scheduled for October; the static-test aircraft should be ready around the same time. The first flight will take place in early 2012. That will trigger a flight test program that should allow series production of the new transport to start already around 2013-14, UAC officials indicate. The new transports are included in the government rearmament program through 2020. Earlier plans called for an order of 38 aircraft, but the Russian military has not signed a purchase contract yet, UAC says. Besides, the manufacturer sees some export opportunities for the improved Il-76: the aircraft is taking part in the Indian tender for six air tankers, while China is interested in reanimating its 2005 contract for 38 Il-76s.
According to UAC, the fuselage of the flying prototype has already been assembled and mated with the center wing box. The factory is now installing the ramp and cargo doors, landing gear fairings and fuel system. The aircraft for static tests has the center wing box completed, and its central fuselage section is 80% ready, UAC reports.
The first new-design wing was manufactured at Aviastar-SP at the end of March. It is made of long wing box panels, which reduces the wing’s weight by 2 t and increases the airframe life cycle by 15%, says Belyakov. The new wing has an improved flap control system that should ease the crew’s work and increase flight safety. An MTOW increase from 195 to 210 t is achieved through reinforcement of the fuselage and landing gear.
The Il-76MD-90A will also receive more powerful, 14.5-ton-thrust Perm PS-90A-76 engines instead of the NPO Saturn D-30KPs, as well as the new Kupol-3 digital avionics system with satellite navigation and a glass cockpit. The avionics will share commonality with that of future transport aircraft to be used by the Russian military, such as the light Il-112 model and the medium-weight Russo-Indian MTA airplane. “The new avionics will help reduce the headcount on the new types from the current five crewmembers to three, but we think that even 2-man crew will be enough”, says Belyakov.
The new transport aircraft will also be available for civil operators since 2015, as it is expected to be certified under the AP-25 Russian Airworthiness Rules, deputy head of the Ilyushin design bureau promised.
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