ilyushin il-76 family candid workers

22 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft October 2015

Ilyushin Il-76 Family

CANDID WORKERS

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Sergei Ilyushin and his team were tasked in 1966 with designing a transport aircraft capable of carrying 72,753lb (33,000kg) over

3,107 miles (5,000km) when taking-off from an unprepared runway. The US Lockheed C-141A Starlifter significantly inspired the design of the Il-76 and the prototype, CCCP-86712, took-off on March 25, 1971 from Khodynka airfield in Moscow piloted by Eduard Kuznetsov. Two months later the aircraft appeared at the 29th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

After two flying prototypes and a static test airframe were made by the Ilyushin facility in Moscow, production of the Il-76 started in 1973 in Tashkent. On May 8 that year the first series production aircraft built in Tashkent, Uzbekistan flew for the first time.About 80 of the initial version were built.

In 1978 production switched to the Il-76M (Modernised) version with a reinforced structure and larger fuel tanks. The maximum take-off weight was increased from 346,126lb

(157,000kg) to 374,786lb (170,000kg), while the maximum load rose from 72,753lb (33,000kg) to 105,822lb (48,000kg).

A civil derivative of the Il-76M, the Il-76T (Transport), had military equipment and the tail gun turret removed. With these discarded, the payload increased to 110,231lb (50,000kg). In total about 170 Il-76M/T airframes were built until, in 1981, the Tashkent factory switched production to the military Il-76MD and civil Il-76TD the D stands for Dalniy (long-range). The wing structure was reinforced again, and maximum take-off weight increased to 418,878lb (190,000kg) enabling more fuel for the same payload (the fuel tanks have the same volume). The range with a 44,092lb (20,000kg) load rose from 4,039 miles (6,500km) to 4,598 miles (7,400km). The NATO reporting name is Candid-A for civil versions and Candid-B for military ones.

The Il-76MD can carry up to 105,822lb (48,000kg), while it can seat 167 troops or 245 when the second deck is installed.

Alternatively, it can hold 126 paratroopers who jump out of the back of the aircraft in four rows, as well as via side doors on both sides of the fuselage. Military equipment can be dropped from high altitude, as well as lower down. To allow operation from austere runways, the Il-76 has a moderate-swept wing with expanded high-lift devices. The undercarriage consists of a four-wheel bogie at the front while the main landing gear is made up of two four-wheel bogies in tandem, on either side of the fuselage.

The military version has a Kupol-3-76 flight-navigation system with KP-3A radar in an under-nose radome, also used as a sight when para-dropping. Some military aircraft have SPO-10 Beryoza radar warning receivers in large fairings on each side of the nose as well as SPS-5 Fasol electronic jammers. Some also carry chaff/flare dispensers, including a 96-round 50mm APP-50R launcher on each side of the fuselage and/or two APP-50R launchers on the undercarriage fairings. Most military

23www.aviation-news.co.uk

The Ilyushin Il-76 has been the most important transport aircraft in the Russian Air Force inventory since the 1970s. New variants are being produced

of this robust airlifter that has also served as a tanker, early warning platform and civilian freighter, among

other duties. Piotr Butowski examines the types career.

An Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A. This variant is an updated version of the military Il-76MD

though does not have the tail gun turret. AirTeamImages.com/Artyom Anikeev

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aircraft and a few civil ones (that are ex-military examples) have a rear gun turret with two twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon and Krypton radar sight. The Il-76 can take four 1,102lb (500kg) are bombs for illumination of a landing area. For training purposes, small 110lb (50kg) P-50 practice bombs are used.

After the collapse of the USSR, production continued for several years but at a declining pace until it almost completely ceased in 1995; only single airframes were then completed from components made earlier. The Tashkent factory made a total of 944 airframes; including 52 Il-78 tankers and 30 A-50/EI early warning aircraft.

STRETCHED FUSELAGEThe essential requirement for the Il-76MF (F for Fuselage) version was making the cargo hold longer by 21.6ft (6.6m), because the aircraft was to be used as a launching platform for the RSM-54 (Shtil-3A, SS-N-23 Skiff) ballistic missile. The aircraft was built despite the project to use the Il-76MF as an airborne rocket launch system never materialising. Eventually, only one prototype ( own on August 1, 1995) and then two production aircraft (delivered to Jordan in 2011) were produced.

Components developed for the Il-76MF, including the 31,967lb st Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 turbofan and new avionics, were applied later to modernised standard-fuselage aircraft.

The Russian Air Force ordered an Il-76MD-90 mid-life upgrade with the PS-90A-76 engines and new avionics, to be carried out at the Voronezh factory. The rst upgraded aircraft, RA-78854, ew for the rst time on December 27, 2005. It remained the only example of this version as further upgrades were abandoned.

In 2003, Russias Volga-Dnepr Airlines ordered a new Il-76TD-90 civilian version powered by PS-90A-76s. This variant ew for the rst time on August 5, 2005. It can y 2,796 miles (4,500km) with a maximum payload of 110,200lb (49,986kg), which is 435 miles (700) more than the Il-76TD with its 26,455lb st Soloviev D-30KP-2 engines. The new aircrafts noise level conforms to ICAOs Chapter 4 requirements allowing

worldwide operation. Whereas Il-76s with the D-30KP-2 do not and so are not permitted to y into Western Europe and the US without special dispensation. The newer engines are also more fuel efficient and cheaper to maintain.

Moreover, the Il-76TD-90 is equipped with modernized avionics developed by Kotlin-Novator Company of St Petersburg, including digital ight-navigation system Kupol-3ME and multi-function displays; the ight crew has been reduced from six to ve. Seven TD-90 aircraft were produced.

RELOCATIONThe Russian Government decided to relocate the Il-76 nal assembly line from Uzbekistan to Russia on December 20, 2006. The Aviastar-SP factory at Ulyanovsk was chosen to build the new Il-76MD-90A (or Izdeliye 476) aircraft. The rst Il-76MD-90A, c/n 01-02, registration 78650, performed its maiden ight on September 22, 2012 (c/n 01-01 is a static test airframe).

The Il-76MD-90A is a signi cantly improved version and manufactured with new tooling. The new wing retains the previous shape but the outer part of it is now a single spar as opposed to the previous three sections. Take-off weight increased to 210,000kg (462,971lb) and maximum payload to 60,000kg (132,277lb). By using the PS-90A-76 engine the Il-76MD-90A


Prototype Ilyushin Il-76 CCCP-86712.

Piotr Butowski Collection

Iraqi Airways Ilyushin Il-76s were a common sight at Heathrow right up until the end of the 1980s. AirTeamImages.com/Keith Blincow

Aero ot had a massive eet of Il-76s in the days of the Soviet Union, some being operated by air force units despite their airline livery. This aircraft, like some others, has a more visible red Aero ot scheme for operations in the Arctic. Key Collection


has a range of 2,485 miles (4,000km) with 132,277lb (60,000kg), or 4,039 miles (6,500km) with 88,185lb (40,000kg) of payload. Most of the aircrafts systems have either been replaced or upgraded and the crew has been reduced from seven to ve.

However, the Il-76MD-90A retained the main shortcoming of the Il-76: the cargo hold is too narrow. According to Russian data, about 35% of equipment used by an infantry division does not t in the Il-76. All large military transport aircraft designed throughout the world after the Il-76 (C-17A, An-70, A400M and Y-20) have much broader fuselages. By August this year the new production line had produced ve Il-76MD-90As.

The rst and, for now, only customer for the new Il-76MD-90A is the Russian Ministry of Defence, which has ordered 42 aircraft. On October 4, 2012 the ministry signed a contract for delivery of 39 Il-76MD-90A transport aircraft between 2014 and 2018 at a unit price of $110m. The other three aircraft making up the total order are the prototype and two airframes which are to be converted by Beriev into special duty versions.

Together with new-production aircraft, the Russian Air Force ordered a mid-life upgrade

of the present MD versions with the new avionics from the Il-76MD-90A, but retaining the current D-30KP2 engines. The rst upgraded aircraft, designated the Il-76MDM, is expected to be delivered in early 2016.

According to the best available information about 390 aircraft of all versions remain in

active service worldwide. The Russian Air Force is the largest operator with about 140 aircraft (including approximately 15 Il-78s and over 15 A-50s). Transport Il-76s are based at Orenburg, Pskov, Seshcha, Taganrog and Tver air bases, as well as the Ivanovo crew conversion centre.

Other state users in Russia have about 20 aircraft, half with the Ministry of Interior. Other air forces operating Il-76 family aircraft

are India (26, including six tanker and three AEW versions), China (21, including the KJ2000 early warning variant), Algeria (17 including one tanker), Iran (six), Ukraine ( ve), Pakistan (four tankers), Angola (three), Armenia (three) and Uzbekistan (three).

The largest civilian operators are Silk Way Airlines (six) of Azerbaijan, Aviakon (six) in Ukraine and Russian carriers Abakan Air ( ve) and Volga-Dnepr Airlines (three).

SPECIAL VARIANTSMost Il-76s are used in the standard role of medium and long-range military or civil transports. However, many other variants have been built as short-series versions or single aircraft. Two medical evacuation Il-76MD Skalpel-MT aircraft with medical modules inserted into the cabin were used during the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Another airborne hospital variant, the Il-76TD-S (S for sanitarnyi, medical), was built in 1991. Several special aircraft including the Il-76K, Il-76MDK and Il-76MDK-2 (K for Kosmos, space) have been built for cosmonaut training in simulated weightless conditions. A search-and-rescue version, the Il-76MD-PS (Poiskovo-Spasatelnyi, or Il-84) was capable of patrolling for three hours


Jordan International Air Cargo Il-76MF JY-JIC. The aircraft also carries the Jordanian Air Force serial 360. This variant is 21.6ft longer than the MD version it is derived from. Piotr Butowski

A Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-78 Midas tanker and Tupolev Tu-95MS-011 Bear. Piotr Butowski

the aircraft was to be used as a

launching platform for the RSM-54 ballistic missile.


at a distance of 1,864 miles (3,000km) from base. A group of 40 rescue paratroopers could be dropped as well as a large Gagara motor boat and life rafts. Only one prototype was made, which undertook its first flight on December 18, 1984. A fire-fighting variant, the Il-76P, carries two tanks capable of holding 97,003lb (44,000kg) of retardant in its cargo hold. Any Il-76 can be converted in field conditions into the fire-fighting variant.

Several Il-76 aircraft have been used as flying engine test beds. The test engine is installed in place of the standard near-fuselage engine under the port wing leaving the aerodynamic configuration of the An Il-76 of Qeshim Air from Iran at Dubai. Key-Tony Dixon


Russian Air Force A-50U Mainstay departs on a test flight from the TANTK facilities at Taganrog.

The cockpit of an Il-76TD-90 features the traditional turquoise panelling associated with Russian aircraft. This variant has two multifunction displays, replacing older style dials, whereas the newer Il-76MD-90A has six. AirTeamImages.com/Yochai


aircraft intact. Two other aircraft are used by the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky for testing electronic equipment such as side-looking radars.

TANKERConversion of the Il-76 into a tanker is only possible with the 190-tonne Il-76MD as the limited take-off weight of the other models is

insufficient for refuelling other aircraft. The prototype Il-78 tanker, CCCP-76556,

ew on June 26, 1983. The aircraft has two cylindrical fuel tanks (30,865lb/14,000kg each) inside the cargo hold and transfers the fuel via two UPAZ refuelling pods under the wings for tactical aircraft, or a single pod on the port side of the rear fuselage for heavy aircraft.

The Il-78M variant undertook its maiden ight on March 7, 1987. It has reinforced wings to enable a maximum take-off weight of 462,971lb (210,000kg). It has larger cabin fuel tanks (39,683lb/18,000kg each) and the rear cargo doors are sealed, reducing the structural weight. A dedicated Indian derivative of the Il-78M, the Il-78MKI (Konvertiruyemyi, convertible, for India) can be recon gured into a transport aircraft and is tted with Israeli fuel transfer systems.

Fifty-two tanker aircraft were made including 32 standard Il-78s, 13 Il-78Ms, one Il-78E for Algeria and six Il-78MKIs. Ilyushin Il-78s are the only tankers used by the Russian Air Force and are operated by the 203rd Independent Tanker Air Regiment at Ryazan-Diagilevo. In December 2008, Ukraine sold four second-hand Il-78Ms to Pakistan where they were given the designation Il-78MP.

Russia is currently launching production of a new Il-78M-90A (or Izdeliye 478) tanker version in Ulyanovsk. With a take-off weight of 485,017lb (220,000kg), the aircraft will be able to carry 88,185lb (40,000kg) of fuel over 3,107 miles (5,000km). Russias National Armament Program covers the purchase of 31 new tankers by 2020. In parallel, current Il-78s and Il-78Ms are to be upgraded into an Il-78M2 version.

AEWIn 1973, the Soviet Government charged Beriev in Taganrog with development of an early warning aircraft based on the Il-76. Beriev had no work at the time because of a lack of orders for its traditional seaplanes, so switched to producing special-duty aircraft based on other-designers airframes. First prototype of the A-50 (Izdeliye A) ew from Taganrog on December 19, 1978. After three prototypes, 24 series A-50s were made between 1985 and 1993. More than 15 remain in the service with the only Russian airborne early warning and control aircraft unit, the 144th Independent Air Regiment at Ivanovo. Several civil derivatives of the A-50, designated Izdeliye 976, are used as


Algeria is one of several nations operating the Il-76 in its air force. Key Collection

Freight is unloaded from an Il-76s rear clamshell doors by USAF personnel at Ali Base, Iraq. USAF/Tech Sgt Sabrina Johnson

The Il-82 is a radio relay aircraft that is designed to work in tandem with the Il-80 (based on the Il-86) airborne command post. The large canoe-shaped fairing above the cockpit houses an array of satellite communication aerials. Piotr Butowski


ight test control and data recording stations by the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky.

The A-50 has an E-821 Shmel (bumblebee, or Izdeliye R) mission system built around an S-band radar tted in a rotating dome of 35.4ft (10.8m) diameter carried above the fuselage on two streamlined struts. The radars search range is 143 miles (230km) for a ghter-size target at low altitude, or 186-218 miles (300-350km) at high altitude. The system can track up to 45 targets simultaneously (15 for each tracking operator) and up to 12 ghters can be guided to targets simultaneously (four targets for each guidance navigator).

Some A-50s have been upgraded to the A-50U (Izdeliye AU) version with a Shmel-M (Izdeliye RM) mission system featuring a new computer system. The rotary antenna, with its mechanical scanning remains unchanged. According to reports, the

modernised aircraft is capable of detecting up to 150 targets at a distance of 373 miles (600km). There is only one external difference between the former and new version which is the absence of the side ns near the main landing gear nacelles on the A-50U on the A-50, these ns are intended to protect the radar against signals re ected from the ground.

The A-50U prototype, 37, successfully accomplished state acceptance tests on November 26, 2009. Three aircraft have been upgraded and handed to the air force and at present there is no further order.

Russia has offered the A-50 for export on several occasions; however, the only exports have been aircraft without Russian radar equipment. India ordered the Israeli ELW-2090 mission system to be tted with its aircraft, which are designated as A-50EIs. The airframes were made by the plant in Tashkent, then adapted for installation of

the mission systems by the Beriev facility in Taganrog before being equipped by IAI and ELTA in Israel. Three aircraft were made for India between 2009 and 2011. Russia expects a further order from India for two more A-50EIs to be signed this year.

China was also offered the Israeli Phalcon system. The contract was cancelled in July 2000 under pressure from the US. More recently, China tted an indigenous radar to an Il-76, which became the prototype of the Chinese KJ2000 early warning aircraft.

Airborne early warning versions of the Il-76 were also produced in Iraq. Two Il-76MDs, named Baghdad-1, used the French Thomson-CSF Tigre radar which was positioned on the lower part of the fuselage below the tail. The Baghdad-1 aircraft attained operational capability in 1988, later joined by an improved version known as Adnan-1 (initially named Baghdad-2). The Adnan-1s radar is located in a rotating disc above the fuselage. At least three Adnan-1 aircraft were built before Operation Desert Storm started in January 1991; one of them was damaged on an air eld while two others escaped to Iran.

In May 2007, Beriev was charged by the Russian Ministry of Defence with creating a new A-100 (Izdeliye PM) AEW&C aircraft using the Il-76MD-90A airframe and new Premier mission system.

On November 21, 2014 the Ulyanovsk facility handed over Il-76MD-90A, 78651 (s/n 01-03), to Taganrog for further conversion into the A-100 prototype. According to the contract, the state acceptance trials are to be completed by November 2017.

Ilyushin Il-76s have also been tted with other special mission systems. In the mid-1980s, Beriev built an Il-76PP (Postanovshchik Pomekh, jammer) aircraft; the programme ended with a single prototype, CCCP-86889. Beriev has been designing a similar airborne jammer based on the Il-76MD-90A transport, known as the A-90. The present status of the project is unclear with reports suggesting the A-90 project has been abandoned in favour of a Tupolev Tu-214PP.

Ilyushin also converted two Il-76s into Il-82 (or 76-65s, or Izdeliye 9-A-9676) radio


Russia developed the A-60 as a balloon interceptor. Trials of an upgraded version resumed in 2006 in a new role to blind infrared sensors on enemy reconnaissance satellites. Beriev via Piotr Butowski

The tail gun turret on an Il-76MD with the two twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon and Krypton radar sight. Piotr Butowski


relay aircraft to operate alongside Il-80 airborne command posts (based on the Il-86); Beriev is responsible for the aircrafts further upgrades. The rst Il-82 ew on April 29, 1987. Both Il-82s are based at Chkalovsky air eld outside Moscow together with the four Il-80s. The most outstanding feature of the Il-82s external appearance is a large canoe-shaped fairing housing a set of satellite communication aerials above the forward fuselage. A trailing wire antenna with stabilisation cone, used for very low frequency radio communication with submerged submarines, is released from beneath the rear fuselage. It doesnt feature the usual glazed nose of the Il-76 either.

A-60 LASER VARIANTSOriginally the Beriev A-60 (Izdeliye 1A) was built as a balloon interceptor with a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser gun made by the Almaz-Antey company of Moscow. Between the 1950s up to 1984, NATO reconnaissance balloons drifting at high altitudes were said to be penetrating Soviet territory and existing ghter aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles could not be used effectively against them. The rst A-60 ew on August 19, 1981 with Yevgeniy Lakhmostov at the controls. The aircraft had a laser gun housed in the cargo hold and a large mirror system to direct the laser ray on to the target. The gun was able to shoot for a total of 11 seconds over a range of 25 miles (40km). A Phazotron-NIIR Ladoga-3 targeting radar was tted in a large bulbous fairing in the aircrafts nose. On April 27, 1984

the A-60 damaged a Soviet balloon acting as a test target over the Volsk Aerostat Research Centre. In 1988, the aircraft was destroyed in a re at Chkalovsky. The upgraded A-60/2 (Izdeliye 1A2) prototype rst ew on August 29, 1991. Trials were suspended after two years due to lack of funding.

The airborne combat laser project resumed in 2003 as part of the new Sokol-Echelon (Sokol translates as falcon) research programme and with a new laser gun made by Chemical Automatics Design Bureau (KBKhA) of Voronezh. The purpose of the system is to blind the infrared sensors of enemy reconnaissance satellites. Flight trials of the renewed 1A2 aircraft resumed around 2006 and continued until 2009.

The nal stage of the trials involved ring the laser on August 28, 2009. Alexander Ignatyev, the deputy designer general of Almaz-Antey told Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper on September 12, 2012 there was, targeting of the laser beam from the 1A2 ying test bed at the [Japanese] Ajisai satellite at an altitude of 1,500km (932 miles), the re ecting signal was recorded.

After successfully completing the trials in 2009, and following further research work by the Sokol-V programme, a new 1LK222 laser-gun system has been ordered from Almaz-Antey with a new carbon monoxide (CO) laser by KBKhA. According to Almaz-Antey, the laser guns purpose is to counteract infrared surveillance sensors on the ground, the sea, in the air and in space. The 1LK222 system is to be tted to an Il-76MD-90A transport aircraft creating the A-60M, which is expected to become an operational system.

The Ilyushin Il-76 has proved itself to be an adaptable and resolute aircraft. With production of the new Il-76MD-90A variant now under way it is set to remain an important part of the Russian Air Forces inventory for the foreseeable future.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines Il-76TD-90 RA-76511 sparkles under the oodlights at Tokyo Haneda. AirTeamImages.com/KSK


A Peoples Liberation Army Air Force KJ2000 airborne early warning variant. AirTeamImages.com/Weimeng

Ilyushin Il-76MDK, RF-75353, is used by Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency)

for cosmonaut zero-g training. Piotr Butowski


ilyushin il-76 family candid workers

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