EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ILYUSHIN IL-76
- Aviation Features
- Everything you need to know about the Ilyushin Il-76
By
Piotr Butowski 19th August 2022
FEATURE
The Ilyushin Il-76 has been the most important transport aircraft in the Russian Air Force inventory since the 1970s. Production has restarted after a two-decade hiatus on an updated version of a type that has also served as a tanker, early warning platform and civilian freighter, among other duties. Piotr Butowski examines the type’s history.
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 of 1963 significantly inspired the design of the
Il-76 and the prototype, CCCP-86712, took-off on March 25, 1971 piloted by Eduard Kuznetsov. Two months later the aircraft appeared at the 29th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. On May 8, 1973 the first series production aircraft built in Tashkent, Uzbekistan flew for the first time. About 80 of the initial version have been 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).
Prototype Ilyushin Il-76 CCCP-86712. Piotr Butowski
A civil derivative of the Il-76M, the Il-76T (Transport), had military equipment and the tail gun post removed. With these discarded, the payload increased to 110,231lb (50,000kg). In total about 170 Il-76M/T airframes were made 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 at 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 codename is
Candid-
A for civil and
Candid-B for military versions.
The Il-76MD can carry up to 105,822lb (48,000kg) in a pressurised freight hold. The aircraft’s cargo compartment seats 167 troops or 245 when the second deck is installed. Alternatively, it can hold 126 paratroopers who are released via a rear hatch in four rows, as well as via side doors at 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 also 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 50-mm APP-50R launcher on each side of the fuselage and/or two APP-50R launchers on the undercarriage fairings. Most military aircraft and a few civil ones 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) flare bombs for illumination of the landing area. For training purposes, small 110lb (50kg) P-50 practice bombs are used.
People's Liberation Army Air Force Il-76 20543 visited the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia in March. Ton van Schaik
Stretched fuselage
The 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 system never materialising. Eventually, only one prototype (flown on August 1, 1995) and then two production aircraft (delivered to Jordan in 2011) were produced.
Components developed for Il-76MF, including the PS-90A76 turbofans 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 engines and new avionics, to be carried out at the Voronezh factory. The first upgraded aircraft, RA-78854, flew for the first time on December 27, 2005. It remained the only aircraft of this version as further upgrades were abandoned. In 2003, Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines ordered a new Il-76TD-90 civilian version powered by PS-90A76s; seven TD-90 aircraft were made.
Reactivation
The Russian government decided to relocate the Il-76 final 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 first Il-76MD-90A, s/n 01-02, registration RA-78650, first flew on September 22, 2012 piloted by the crew commanded by Nikolai Kuimov (s/n 01-01 is a static test airframe).
The Il-76MD-90A is a deeply improved version made using new digital documentation (previous versions were made in Tashkent using paper documentation) and manufactured with new tooling. The entirely new wing retains the previous shape and profiles, but inside, the outer panels are made of long single-piece panels (previously, they were made of three sections). Take-off weight increased to 210,000kg (462,971lb) and maximum payload to 60,000kg (132,277lb). The PS-90A-76 engines are rated at 14.5 tonnes at take-off and have 12% lower fuel consumption. As a result, the Il-76MD-90A reaches the 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 aircraft's systems have either been replaced or upgraded and the crew has been reduced from seven to five.
Freight is unloaded from an Il-76’s rear clamshell doors by USAF personnel at Ali Base, Iraq. USAF photo/Tech Sgt Sabrina Johnson
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 fit in the Il-76. All large military transport aircraft designed throughout the world after the Il-76 (C-17A, An-70, A400M, Y-20) have much broader fuselages.
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 first upgraded aircraft, designated the Il-76MDM, is expected to be delivered in early 2016.
The fleet of Il-76s
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. After the collapse of the USSR, production continued for several years but at a slower and slower pace until it almost completely ceased in 1995; only single airframes have been completed since 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. A new production line in Ulyanovsk, Russia, started in 2012 and had made four aircraft by June 2015.
According to the best available estimations, about 390 aircraft of all versions remain in active service worldwide with the Russian Air Force being the largest operator with about 140 aircraft (including about 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-76s include India (26, including six tanker and three AEW versions), China (21, including KJ2000s), Algeria (17), Iran (six), Ukraine (five), Pakistan (four), Angola (three), Armenia (three) and Uzbekistan (three).
Qeshim Air Il-76 EP-TQI at Dubai. KEY-Tony Dixon
The largest civilian operators are Silk Way Airlines (six) of Azerbaijan, Aviakon (six) in Ukraine and Russian carriers Abakan Air (five) and Volga-Dnepr (three).
The first 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 $110 million. 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.
Special variants
Most Il-76s are used in the standard role of medium and long-range military or civil transport. However, dozens of 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 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 made 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.
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
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 aircraft intact. Two other aircraft are used for testing electronic equipment such as side-looking radars.
Il-78 Midas tanker
Conversion 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, flew 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 wing for tactical aircraft, or a single pod at the port side of the rear fuselage for heavy aircraft.
The Il-78M variant made its maiden flight on March 7, 1987. It has reinforced wings to enable a maximum take-off weight of 462,971lb (210,000kg). Increased cabin fuel tanks (39,683lb/18,000kg each) have been fastened permanently and the rear cargo hatch sealed, reducing the structural weight. A dedicated Indian derivative of the Il-78M, the Il-78MKI (Konvertiruyemyi, convertible, for India) can be reconfigured into a transport aircraft and is fitted with Israeli fuel transfer systems.
A Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-78 Midas air-to-air tanker refuels a Tupolev Tu-95MS-011 Bear. Piotr Butowski
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