Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. It was developed to deliver heavy machinery to remote and poorly served areas. Military versions of the Il-76 have been widely used in Europe, Asia and Africa, including use as an aerial refueling tanker and command center.
The Il-76 has seen extensive service as a commercial freighter for ramp-delivered cargo, especially for outsized or heavy items that cannot be carried by other means. It has also been used as an emergency response transport for civilian evacuations as well as for humanitarian aid and disaster relief around the world. Thanks to its ability to operate from unpaved runways, it has been useful in undeveloped areas. Specialized models have also been produced for aerial firefighting and reduced-gravity training.
Design and development
Origins
The aircraft was conceived by Ilyushin in 1967 to meet a requirement for a freighter able to carry a payload of over a range of 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 to replace the Antonov An-12. Another project design for a double-decked 250-passenger airliner was canceled. The Il-76 first flew in.Production of Il-76s was allocated to the Tashkent Aviation Production Association in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then a republic of the Soviet Union. Some 860 of the basic transport variants were manufactured. In the 1990s, modernized variants also equipped with Soloviev D-30 turbofan engines were developed, with a cargo compartment long by wide by tall; these larger variants were not produced in significant quantity due to the financial difficulties being experienced by the Russian Air Force, which was the primary operator of the type.
Further development
From 2004 onwards, a number of aircraft in commercial service were modernized to the Il-76TD-90VD version; this involved the adoption of the newly developed PS-90 engine to comply with European noise limitations. In 2005, the People's Republic of China placed an order for 34 new Il-76MDs and four Il-78 tankers. In June 2013, Russian military export agency Rosoboronexport announced an order by China for 12 Il-76MD aircraft.The Il-76 has also been modified into an airborne refueling tanker, designated the Il-78, around 50 aircraft having been produced. A variant of the Il-76 also serves as a firefighting waterbomber. Its airframe was used as a base for the Beriev A-50 'Mainstay' AEW&C aircraft; around 25 aircraft were made. Another application for the type was found in Antarctic support flights and for conducting simulated weightlessness training for cosmonauts. Beriev and NPO Almaz also developed an airborne laser flying laboratory designated A-60, of which two were built, much of this project's details remaining classified.
Il-76MD-90A
It was announced in 2010 that the production of a modernized Il-76, the Il-76MD-90A, would begin; a proposed new production line would be located in Aviastar's facility in Ulyanovsk, Russia, and be operated in cooperation with the Tashkent works. At that point, the construction of two Il-76MD-90A prototypes had begun at the Ulyanovsk facility. The first Il-76MD-90A was rolled out at Aviastar's Ulyanovsk plant on 16 June 2014. On 29 April 2015, it was reported that the Russian Aerospace Forces received the first Il-76MD-90A built at the Ulyanovsk plant "Aviastar-SP" from the 2012 contract for 39 aircraft. The Russian Ministry of Defence received its first serial production Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A airlifter on 2 April 2019. As of late 2025, 27 aircraft are ordered to be delivered in the period up to 2028 and 27 had been built, six in 2023, six in 2024, and one in 2025. In 2025, the production rate of the Il-76 will reach 7 aircraft per year. There are plans to expand production at the plant in Ulyanovsk and in 2027 they expect to assemble 12 aircraft, and later - up to 18 per year.Operational history
The first aircraft was delivered to the Soviet Air Force in June 1974 and subsequently became the main Soviet strategic transport aircraft. From 1976, it was operated by Aeroflot.Between 1979 and 1991, 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. As Afghan rebels were unable to shoot down high-flying Il-76s, their tactics were to try and damage it on takeoff or landing. Il-76s were often hit by shoulder-launched Stinger and Strela heat-seeking missiles and large-calibre machine gun fire, but because the strong airframes were able to take substantial damage and remain operational, the aircraft had a remarkably low attrition rate during this period of conflict. Building on that earlier experience, during 2006 the bulk of the Canadian Forces equipment airlifted into Afghanistan was flown in using rented civilian Il-76s. In 2006, the Russian Air Force had about 200 Il-76s. Civilian users in Russia have 108.
File:Indian Air Force IL-76 cockpit.JPG|thumb|USAF and IAF airmen work inside the cockpit of an Indian Il-76
In 2004, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Il-76 carried out a flight mission in Afghanistan, and later in 2011, PLAAF Il-76s were sent to Libya to evacuate Chinese citizens. The two missions were the reported first steps of PLAAF developing long-range transportation capability.
Syrian Air Force Il-76s, operating as civil Syrianair aircraft, have been reportedly used to ship weapons, money, and other cargo from Russia and Iran to Syria, according to a defected Syrian military pilot. Since the start of the war, in April 2011, around 20 military flights have been conducted to and from Tehran, via Iraqi airspace. Further information exposes that since around 2012, Syrian Il-76s have regularly flown to Moscow's Vnukovo Airport to fetch shipments of Syrian banknotes that have been useful to Bashar al-Assad's government to survive international sanctions.
On 30 January 2017, an Il-76 firebomber of the Russian EMERCOM agency was deployed to Chile to assist firefighters. The assignment took 39 days.
All Il-76 transport aircraft in service with the RF Aerospace Forces were to receive anti-missile systems, and aircraft reconfiguration started in spring 2019.
Variants
Prototypes and developmental variants
;Il-76TD-90/Il-76MD-90: Engine upgrades to Perm PS-90s.;Il-76 firebomber: Firefighting aircraft to drop exploding capsules filled with fire retardant.
;Il-76PSD: SAR version of Il-76MF
;Il-96: Early development of convertible passenger/cargo aircraft,
;Il-150: Proposed Beriev A-50 with Perm PS-90 engines.
;Beriev A-60: Airborne laser weapon testbed
Special purpose/research variants
;Il-76LL: With reinforced wing to be used as test-bed airplane for engine prototypes flight testing in Gromov Flight Research Institute.;Izdeliye-176: Prototype Il-76PP.
;Izdeliye-576:
;Izdeliye-676: Telemetry and communications relay aircraft, for use during trial programmes.
;Izdeliye-776: Telemetry and communications relay aircraft, for use during trial programmes.
;Izdeliye-976 – : Il-76/A-50 based range control and missile tracking platform. Initially built to support Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile tests.
;Izdeliye-1076: Special mission aircraft for unknown duties.
;Izdeliye-1176: ELINT electronic intelligence aircraft, or Il-76-11
;Il-76-Tu160 tailplane transporter: One-off temporary conversion to support Tu-160 emergency modification programme.
;Il-76K/Il-76MDK/Il-76MDK-II: Reduced-gravity aircraft for cosmonaut training used by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
;Il-76LL: Engine testbed.
;Il-76PP: ECM aircraft, major problems with ECM equipment on the Izdeliye-176 only.
;Il-84: Maritime search and rescue aircraft, not produced.
Military variants
;Il-76D: has a gun turret in the tail for defensive purposes.;Il-76M: Military transport version,.
;Il-76MD: Improved military transport version,.
;Il-76MD Skal'pel-MT: Mobile Hospital
;Il-76M/Il-76MD: Built without military equipment but designated as Ms and MDs
;Il-76MD-90: An Il-76MD with quieter and more economical Aviadvigatel PS-90 high-bypass turbofan engines.
;Il-76MF: Stretched military version with a longer fuselage, PS-90A-76 engines, maximum takeoff weight of and a lift capability of. First flew in 1995. Two built and delivered to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, later sold to the Egyptian Air Force.
;Il-76MD-M: Modernized Il-76MD for the Russian Aerospace Forces.
;Il-76MD-90A: An upgraded version with a new glass cockpit, upgraded avionics, new one-piece carbon-fibre wing, and Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 engines. It was also known as Il-476 while in development. Designated as Il-76-MD-90AE for the export market.
;Il-76T/Il-76TD: Built as military aircraft but given civilian designations.
;Ilyushin Il-78/Il-78M/Il-78MD-90A: Aerial refueling tanker.
;Il-78 MKI: A customized version of the Il-78 developed for the Indian Air Force.
;Il-82: Airborne Command Post/communications relay aircraft,.
;Beriev A-50/Beriev A-50M/Beriev A-50I/Beriev A-50E: Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft. Beriev given control over the program.
;Beriev A-100: An AEW&C version of the Il-76MD-90A. Currently in development, with at least two prototypes built.
Civil variants
An Il-76TD with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines and a partial glass cockpit.;Il-76TD-90VD: An Il-76TD with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines and a partial glass cockpit. It was developed specially for Volga-Dnepr cargo company, which operates five aircraft as of 2021.
;Il-76TD-S: Civilian mobile hospital, similar to Il-76MD Skal'pel-MT.
;Il-76TF: Civil transport stretched version with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines. It is the civil version of the Il-76MF.