Ilyushin Il-76

Il-76
Atlant-Soyuz Il-76 at Baghdad International Airport
Role Strategic airlifter
Manufacturer Tashkent Aviation Production Association
Designed by Ilyushin
First flight March 25, 1971
Introduced June 1974[1]
Status Operational
Primary users Russian Air Force
Ukrainian Air Force
Indian Air Force[2]
TransAVIAexport Airlines
Number built 960[3]
Variants Ilyushin Il-78
Beriev A-50
KJ-2000

The Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose 4-engined strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Ilyushin bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967. Intended as a replacement for the An-12, the Il-76 was designed for delivering heavy machinery to remote, poorly-serviced areas of the USSR. Military versions of the Il-76 have seen widespread use in Europe, Asia and Africa, including use as an airborne refueling tanker.

The Il-76 has seen extensive service as a commercial freighter for ramp-delivered cargo, especially for outsized or heavy items unable to be otherwise carried. It has been used as emergency response transport for civilian evacuations and to deliver humanitarian/disaster relief aid around the world, especially to undeveloped areas due to its ability to operate from unpaved runways. A water-carrying version of the plane has been effective in fire-fighting. There is also a model used for zero-G training.

Contents

Design and development

An Il-78 leads an aerial formation during the Victory Day parade over Moscow, Russia.

The aircraft was first conceived by Ilyushin in 1967 to meet a requirement for a freighter able to carry a payload of 40 tons (88,000 lb) over a range of 5,000 km (2,700 nmi; 3,100 mi) in less than six hours, able to operate from short and unprepared airstrips, and capable of coping with the worst weather conditions likely to be experienced in Siberia and the Soviet Union's Arctic regions. It was intended as a replacement for the An-12. Another intended version was a double-decked 250-passenger airliner but that project was cancelled. The Il-76 first flew on March 25, 1971.

Production of Il-76s was placed in Tashkent Aviation Production Association in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (then a republic of the Soviet Union). Some 860 of the basic transport variants were made.[4] In the 1990s, modernized variants were developed (MF, TF), with a cargo compartment sized 20 m (length) x 3.4 m (width) x 3.4 m (height), but were not produced in significant quantity due to financial problems of the major user, the Russian Air Force. The prototype of the longer variant Il-76MF, with greater capacity, first flew on 1 August 1995. The production ceased around 1997, and the factory has since deteriorated.

Some commercial aircraft were modernized to the Il-76TD-90VD version, starting from 2004, using new PS-90 engines to meet European noise limits.[1] In 2005, China ordered in Russia 34 new Il-76MDs and 4 Il-78 tankers, and the factory in Tashkent produced 16 incomplete airframes. Production of the Il-476 at a new production line at the Aviatstar factory in Ulyanovsk, in Russia, in cooperation with the Tashkent works, is under consideration.[4] The construction of two prototype IL-746 has begun at the Ulyanovk facility.[5][6] [7][8]

Operational history

Ilyushin Il-76MD of Iraqi Airways at Basle in 1984
USAF and IAF airmen work inside the cockpit of an Indian Il-76.

First aircraft were delivered to the Soviet Air Force in June 1974.[1] Next it became the main Soviet strategic transport aircraft. From 1976 it was operated by the Aeroflot lines.

Between 1979 and 1991, the Soviet Air Force Il-76s made 14,700 flights into Afghanistan, transporting 786,200 servicemen, and 315,800 tons of freight. The Il-76 carried 89% of Soviet troops and 74% of the freight that was airlifted.[9] Building on that experience, the bulk of the Canadian Forces equipment into Afghanistan is flown in using civilian Il-76[10]. As of 2006, the Russian Air Force had some 200 Il-76s, less than half of which were airworthy. Civilian users in Russia have 108.[4]

Il-76s sitting on the ramp at the Tripoli Airport were bombed by USAF F-111s during Operation El Dorado Canyon in April 1986.[11]

The Il-76 is also in use as an airborne tanker, otherwise known as a refueller (Il-78, some 50 were made[4]), and a waterbomber. Its airframe was used as a base for the Beriev A-50 'Mainstay' AWACS aircraft (some 25 were made[4]). Still more applications have been found in Antarctic support flights and simulated weightlessness training for cosmonauts.[12] Beriev and NPO Almaz also developed an airborne laser flying laboratory designated A-60, of which two were built, although little is known about it, as the project is still classified.[13]

1988 Maldives Coup

Also known as the Operation Cactus, on November 3, 1988, the Indian Air Force paratroopers were flown to the islands of Maldives in Il-76MD to foil an attempt to overthrow the government on the Republic Of Maldives after help was requested by the government of Maldives to India.[14]

Hurricane Katrina

The Russian Federation offered humanitarian aid to the United States following Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans.[15][16] Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft landed at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock, Arkansas on September 8.[17] This marks the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.

India also used an Il-76 to deliver aid on September 13, 2005 for Katrina victims.[18]

In October 2009 it was reported that the Russian Government had offered the Australian Government the use of two Il-76 water bombers to help put out the Black Saturday bushfires. However, Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) declined the offer due to the aircraft not being suited for the conditions in Victoria and approval from aviation authorities could not be obtained in time.[19]

Variants

Prototypes and developmental variants

Il-76TD, one of the first variants, at Zurich Airport.
Indian air force pilots walk away from their IL-76 medium cargo jet after landing at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

Military variants

An Il-76 in-service with the Indian Air Force
An Il-78MKI in-service with the Indian Air Force

Civil variants

A commercial variant of Ilyushin Il-76 loading cargo at Ali Base in Iraq

Foreign Variants

A-50 Phalcon

For the Indian Air Force. Hosts Israeli Phalcon radar for AWACS and Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines[22].

Il-76MD tanker

Iraqi Air Force tanker conversions.

KJ-2000

Domestic Chinese AWACS conversion of Il-76, developed after A-50I was cancelled and currently in service with the armed forces of China. Equipped with an active phased array (AESA) radar designed by China's Research Institute of Electronic Technology and arranged in the same way as the A-50I.

CFTE Engine Testbed

China Flight Test Establishment (CFTE) currently operates a flying testbed converted from a Russian-made Il-76MD jet transport aircraft to serve as a flying testbed for future engine development programmes. The first engine to be tested on the aircraft is the WS-10A “Taihang” turbofan, currently being developed as the powerplant for China’s indigenous J-10 and J-11 fighter aircraft. The #76456 Il-76MD, acquired by the AVIC 1 from Russia in the 1990s, is currently based at CFTE’s flight test facility at Yanliang, Shaanxi Province.

Baghdad-1

Iraqi development with a radar mounted in the cargo hold, used in the Iran - Iraq war.

Baghdad-2

Iraqi development (with French assistance) with fibreglass-reinforced plastic radome over the antenna of the Thomson-CSF Tiger G surveillance radar with a maximum detection range of 350 km (189 nmi, 217.5 mi). One was destroyed on the ground during the Persian Gulf War but two others (Adnan-1 and Adnan-2) were flown to Iran where they remained.[23][24] They were re-named Simorgh and probably modified. At least one was put back to service with IRIAF since on 22 September 2009, one of them crashed during a midair collision with a HESA Saeqeh fighter jet during the annual Iranian military parade in Teheran. The other one is believed to be not flightworthy as of 2009. It can be easily distinguished from the Beriev A-50 by having the Il-76 navigator windows in the nose, which the A-50 does not.

Operators

Present and ex-Il-76 operators. (Red=Military only Green=Civilian only Blue=Both)

Military and Civil operators in 38 countries have operated 850+ Il-76 in large numbers. While Russia is the largest military operator of the Il-76, followed by Ukraine and India, Belarus' TransAVIAexport Airlines is the largest civilian operator. In the list below, known current operators are listed in italics.

 United Nations
 Algeria
 Angola
 Armenia
 Azerbaijan
 Belarus
 Burkina Faso
 Cambodia
 China
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Republic of the Congo
 Equatorial Guinea
 Hungary
 India
 Iran
 Iraq
 Kazakhstan
 Kyrgyzstan
 Laos – Lao People's Democratic Republic
 Latvia
 Libya
 Mali
 Moldova
 North Korea
 Russia
 Serbia
 Sierra Leone
 Soviet Union
 Sudan
 Syria
 Turkmenistan
 Ukraine
 United States
 United Arab Emirates
 Uzbekistan
 Yemen
 Zimbabwe

Incidents and accidents

Specifications (Il-76D)

Data from [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Notes:

  1. 48,000 kg for the Il-76M/T, 50,000 kg for the Il-76MD/TD and 60,000 kg for the Il-76MF/TF
  2. 92,000 kg (Il-76MD/TD), 104,000 kg (Il-76MF/TF)
  3. for other models: 170,000 kg (Il-76M/T), 190,000 kg Il-76MD/TD), 210,000 kg (Il-76MF/TF)
  4. 4,000 km (Il-76M/T), 4,400 km (Il-76MD/TD), 4,200 km (Il-76MF/TF)
  5. 633.3 kg/m² (Il-76MD/TD)
  6. 0.282 (Il-76M/T), 0.252 (Il-76MD/TD), 0.228 (Il-76MF/TF)

See also

Related development

Comparable aircraft

Related lists

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 Ilyushin beriev IL-76 Candid(Gajraj) at indian military database
  3. [Ilyushin Il-76: Russia's Versatile Jet Freighter]
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Butowski, Piotr. Rosyjski kontrakt na Ił-76 i Ił-78 dla Chin. Lotnictwo nr. 1/2007, p. 54-55 (Polish)
  5. http://vpk.name/news/41009_postavki_transportnikov_il476_zakazchikam_nachnutsya_v_2012_godu.html
  6. http://russianplanes.net/EN/ID14554
  7. http://russianplanes.net/EN/ID14553
  8. http://russianplanes.net/EN/ID19388
  9. [Ilyushin Il-76 Russia's Versatile Airlifter]
  10. Canadian Parliament Website
  11. "Operation El Dorado Canyon". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgqDT2mlENo. Retrieved 28 July 2010. 
  12. "File:Марка России 2006г №1073-Самолет ИЛ-76ТД и научно-экспедиционное судно "Академик Федоров"; панорама станции.jpg". Stamps of Russia. Publishing and Trading Centre "Marka". 2006-01-26. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Марка_России_2006г_№1073-Самолет_ИЛ-76ТД_и_научно-экспедиционное_судно_%22Академик_Федоров%22;_панорама_станции.jpg. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
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  14. Maldives airlift
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  16. Russia to send humanitarian aid to U.S. Tuesday
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External links