IL 76 Candid

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MILITARY ILYUSHIN IL-76MD-90A

The Tashkent Aviation Production Association manufactured 920 examples of the Ilyushin Il-76 Candid transport aircraft and derivatives, including 50 Il-78 Midas tankers and 25 A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control

platforms, from the Il-76’s birth in 1973. After the Soviet Union’s collapse, production rates gradually declined as the Tashkent plant – now in independent Uzbekistan – suffered from � nancial dif� culties, resulting in the

plant producing just 31 airframes between 1998 and the late 2000s.

On December 20, 2006, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the parent company of all the major Russian aircraft design bureaux, announced that Candid production would be relocated to Russia. Three factors in� uenced the decision. The � rst was the requirement to cost-effectively provide Russia’s armed forces with new transport aircraft for future decades. The second was a need to restore the capability of producing heavy military transport aircraft in Russia – all other heavy transport types, such as the An-124 and An-70 were made in Ukraine by Antonov. And

the third, and arguably most important, was to � ll a capability gap in the Russian Air Force (RuAF) – that of the force multiplier, the � exible single type capable of � lling a number of roles including tanking and transport.

New EraCoinciding with the decision to relocate production was the announcement of the upgraded Il-76MD-90A (see The Rise of the New Candid, June 2013). UAC revealed that production of the new jet would be undertaken by Aviastar-SP at Ulyanovsk, east of Moscow. The plant received an 8.5 billion rouble (US$256 million) investment

Force MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierRussia’s

All im

ages Piotr B

utowski unless stated

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in its tooling capabilities so that it could produce the Il-76MD-90A.

Initially the upgraded Candid was expected to undergo � ight and initial quali� cation trials (testing by the state’s civil and military � ight test centres at Zhukovsky and Chkalovskaya respectively, both near Moscow) in 2009, but design on the aircraft only began in 2008. The delay was caused by the time required to master new design and production technologies and the time to re-train factory personnel. Additionally, the production plan was changed. Originally Aviastar-SP was to build fuselage sections and undertake the � nal assembly of the aircraft, with VASO in

Voronezh set to build the wings and KAPO in Kazan the tail. But the extent of the modernisation required at the VASO and KAPO plants to allow production to take place there proved prohibitively expensive and the decision was made to instead build the entire aircraft at Ulyanovsk.

Testing ProgressThe � rst Il-76MD-90A (s/n 01-02, registration RA-78650) made its maiden � ight from Ulyanovsk on September 22, 2012, with Nikolai Kuimov as pilot in command. On January 30, 2013, the aircraft � ew from Ulyanovsk to Zhukovsky to be prepared for

state evaluation trials. Improvements were made to the airframe resulting from the lessons of the � rst few � ight tests.

In May 2013 it was decided that the aircraft was ready, and the � rst of 50 � ights in phase one of the state evaluation programme took place on July 10. The second phase will begin in 2014 at Akhtubinsk, where paratrooper and equipment dropping tests will be carried out.

Modern FeaturesThe most important change in the Il-76MD-90A from the earlier Il-76MD are the materials in the wing. Although the wing retains the

Force MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierForce MultiplierPiotr Butowski explains how new versions of the Il-76 transport aircraft are being developed


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classic Candid shape, the outer panels are made of long single-piece panels (in the original aircraft they were made of three panels). This means the Il-76MD-90A is 2,700kg (5,952lb) lighter than the Il-76MD, but boasts an increased take-off weight of 210,000kg (462,996lb) from 190,000kg (418,874lb) of the earlier aircraft.

Most systems have been either replaced or upgraded. The new Candid has four PS-90A-76 engines, each rated at 142.2kN (31,967lb) thrust at take-off, which are 24.5kN (5,507lb) more powerful and have 12% lower specific fuel consumption than the D-30KP2 engines that powered earlier aircraft. The new avionics suite, including

the Kupol-III-76M(A) digital navigation system, and glass cockpit with eight LCD display screens, was developed by Kotlin-Novator based in St Petersburg. The aircraft has an SAU-76 digital autopilot, enabling it to land in International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Category II conditions where the visual range is less

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ILYUSHIN IL-76MD-90A MILITARY

than 200m (660ft). There’s also a new communication system and self-protection suite with warning sensors, active infrared jammer and � are dispensers.

Despite the modern features, the Il-76MD-90A retains the Candid’s main shortcoming: the narrow cargo hold. According to Russian data, about 35% of an infantry division’s equipment can’t � t in the Il-76. And many large military transport aircraft designed throughout the world after the Il-76, including the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, Antonov An-70, Airbus A400M and Y-20, have much broader fuselages. This is the main reason why Russia, despite resuming Candid production, still wants to launch large-scale production of larger types, such as the An-70 and An-124.

than 200m (660ft). There’s also a new

1 The Il-78M is the RuAF’s primary tanker, seen here with Su-24s and three Yak-130s. A dozen Il-78Ms will be updated to Il-78M2 standard. 2 Around a dozen Mainstays are in service, all are based at Ivanovo, 250km from Moscow. 3 Outer panels made from one, rather than three sec-tions, mean the Il-76MD-90A’s wing is 2,700kg lighter than the Il-76MD’s. 4 Reportedly an airborne command post variant of the Il-76MD-90A will be developed to replace the Il-82, which has a distinctive dorsal fairing. 5 Beriev is designing the A-100 to supplement – and in future replace – the A-50U. Beriev 6 An impression of the A-60M laser-gun derivative under development. Beriev 7 The fi rst Il-76MD-90A (s/n 01-02, RA-78650) under construction at Ulyanovsk. UAC

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New VersionsThe Il-76MD-90A will be the platform for new versions of the aircraft, central to which will be improved engines. Although the PS-90A is the most modern aircraft engine of its class in Russia, it’s nearly 25 years old and to

replace it the PD-14 engine (which has 137.2kN/30,864lb of thrust) and the PD-14M version (152.9kN/34,392lb of thrust) are being developed. The PD-14 will be fitted to the MC-21 civil airliner. It’s planned that the PD-14M will be fitted to a new version of the Candid, provisionally designated the Il-76MD-14, after 2018. This aircraft is designed to have a range of 4,780km (2,970 miles) with a 60-tonne load and a maximum range of 10,800km (6,710 miles), respectively 780km (486 miles) and 1,100km (683 miles) more than the baseline Il-76MD-90A.

Another new Candid derivative from the Il-76MD-90A will be the Il-78M-90A PSZ (Perspektyvnyi Samolot Zaprawshchik, Future Tanker Aircraft), designed to replace the RuAF’s current Il-78M Midas, itself a derivative of the original Il-76. The PSZ will have a maximum take-off weight of 220,000kg (485,017lb) and be able to transfer 40,000kg (88,184lb) of fuel to other aircraft within the radius of 5,000km (3,106 miles), up from the current Il-78M’s 3,450km (2,143 miles). Unlike the present-generation Midas it’ll retain the rear cargo ramp, enabling it to serve as a transport aircraft or a tanker (removable fuel tanks will be installed in the cargo hold). The Il-78M-

90A’s first flight is scheduled for late 2014.

Beriev A SeriesThe most interesting new derivatives of the Il-76MD-90A are being designed by another UAC company, Beriev, at its Taganrog plant in southern Russia. These are the A-100 airborne early warning and control aircraft, the A-90 electronic warfare aircraft and the A-60M equipped with an airborne laser. Beriev is to receive two examples of the initial batch of newly-built Il-76MD-90As, which will be used as the first series production aircraft of the A series.

The A-100 is being designed to supplement and in future replace the current Beriev A-50 and A-50U Mainstay. From the

outside the A-100 will look no

different than the earlier aircraft, but it will be fitted with an entirely new Premier radar system, designed by the Vega Company, featuring a rotating array with active electronic scanning in elevation and mechanical scanning in azimuth. The prototype A-100 is currently being assembled by Beriev by modifying an A-50.

A-50 UpgradeIn the meantime, Beriev is continuing with the upgrade of the A-50 to A-50U standard. This involves installing an improved Shmel-M mission system which features digital rather than analogue radar signal processing, a lower-weight (by 2,000kg/4,409lb) computer and improved reliability. Its operators also have new large LCD screens, a crew rest

1 India Air Force IL76MD K2666 takes to the air 2 India currently operates Il-78s in the tanker role, but Russia sees a future market in the country for A-50s.

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area, a galley and toilet. The only external difference between

the A-50 and the A-50U is the lack of the lateral strakes near the main landing gear nacelles in the A-50U (in the A-50, these strakes shielded the radar against the signal reflected from the ground). Around a dozen A-50s are in service, based at Ivanovo, 250km (155 miles) from Moscow. State evaluation of the A-50U was completed on November 26, 2009, and on October 31, 2011, Beriev delivered the first upgraded production A-50U to the RuAF. The upgrades are being conducted at the rate of one to two aircraft per year.

A-90 and A-60MA second new special mission derivative of the Il-76MD-90A being developed by Beriev is the A-90 electronic warfare (EW) aircraft. The exact status of this project is unknown, but it won’t be the first EW-equipped Candid. Back in the mid-1980s Beriev built and tested the Il-76PP (Postanovshchik Pomekh, or jammer) version of the Candid, but that programme ended after just a single prototype (with the civil registration CCCP-86889) had been built.

The third new derivative being developed by Beriev is the A-60M laser-gun aircraft. Beriev has been conducting flight tests with lasers aboard the Il-76 since 1981. Initially the A-60 was designed to destroy research balloons, with the laser having a 40km (25 miles) range and able to ‘shoot’ for 50 seconds. More recently, the design was used to ‘dazzle’ enemy reconnaissance satellites.

Now the A-60M is being developed on the Il-76MD-90A platform. A patent submitted by Beriev for the A-60M’s design featured a large ‘bulb’ fairing on the forward fuselage, which is likely to house the laser gun mirrors, although the aircraft also has an opening hatch on the upper fuselage, aft of the wing where the laser mirrors were housed on the previous A-60.

While these three versions are under development, there is the possibility of a fourth. In the late

1980s, Beriev

converted two Il-76MDs into Il-82

communication relay aircraft, designed to operate alongside the

Il-80 strategic airborne command posts (military versions of the Il-86 airliner). The Il-82 had a large dorsal fairing on the forward fuselage housing satellite communication arrays and the wire antenna deployed from beneath rear fuselage for communication with submarines in a very low frequency band. Reportedly, a new aircraft with

airborne command post capabilities is to be developed using the Il-76MD-90A, though no official confirmation has been made.

Production PlansOn October 4, 2012, just after the first Il-76MD-90A flew, Russian President

Vladimir Putin visited

Ulyanovsk where, in his presence, the Russian

defence ministry signed a contract with UAC for 39

Il-76MD-90As, to be delivered from 2014 to 2018. The RuAF

also intends to bring into service 31 Il-78MD-90s, 100 A-100s and a few in other special mission versions.

A task group called Kuznetsk-2, concerning the development of Il-76MD-90A transport versions and Il-78M-90A tankers, was established in late 2012. But it seems the Il-76MD-90A currently flying is only a semi-finished product. Problems with the supply chain, delays in readying the Ulyanovsk facility and some of the aircraft’s new equipment remaining unspecified may combine to hinder aircraft deliveries. in May 2013 UAC said it planned to have the capability to build 18 aircraft per year by 2018. Aviastar-SP, which currently has a 9,500-strong

CANDIDS COMPAREDIl-76MD Il-76MD-90A

Engines D-30KP2 PS-90A-76

Take-off thrust 470.7kN (105,820lb) 568.7kN (127,868lb)

Maximum take-off weight 190,000kg (418,874lb) 210,000kg (462,966lb)

Maximum cargo payload 48,000kg (105,822lb) 60,000kg (132,277lb)

Range

Maximum 9,300km (5,778 miles) 9,700km (6,027 miles)

with a 60,000kg load Not applicable 4,000km (2,485 miles)

with 48,000kg load 3,800km (2,361 miles) 5,500km (3,417 miles)

with 40,000kg load 4,750km (2,950 miles) 6,500km (4,038 miles)

Cruise speed 750-780km/h (404-421kts) 780-800km/h (421-432kts)

Required runway length 2,250m (7,381ft) 2,150m (7,053ft)

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workforce, intends to employ a further 5,000 by 2017-2018, when the Il-76 reaches the maximum production rate.

The value of the 39-aircraft contract amounts to 139.42 billion roubles (US$4.2 billion) which is 3.57 billion roubles (more than US$107 million) per jet. UAC claims the unit price doesn’t cover the costs of producing the aircraft and is negotiating with subcontractors to lower the cost of components in return for promises of large contracts in other programmes. The company is also

seeking revised terms in the contract with the Russian ministry of defence.

Providing a bridge to the introduction of the new Il-76MD-90s into the RuAF will be the modernisation of 40 Il-76MDs to Il-76MDM specification and 12 Il-78M tankers to the Il-76M2 standard. These upgrades, which will roll out some of the avionics improvements of the Il-76MD-90As into Candids already in service (although the D-30KP2 engines will be retained) to extend their service life by 15 years, are needed because the newest

Candids operated by the RuAF are more than 20 years old.

Civil OrdersOrders for the Il-76MD-90A from civil operators are unlikely, as there is no cargo airline that would pay more than US$100 million for a niche rear-ramp transport aircraft. The current popularity of the Il-76 (and An-124) among civil users results only from the fact that airlines obtained these aircraft very cheaply after the collapse of the USSR.

More likely are sales to foreign militaries, with the aircraft being marketed as the Il-476. Significant numbers of Candids are used by air forces in countries like India and China. The purchase of new transport and tanker variants of the Candid by India is doubtful given that that country has already picked the C-17A and A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport for these roles. However, Russia intends to offer to India between two and four Il-76MD-90As for the airborne early

1 PS-90A-76 engines burn 12% less fuel than those used in earlier Candids. 2 The A-50U upgrade to the Mainstay provides new large LCD screens for systems operators. Beriev 3 Russia hopes China’s order of ten used Il-76s will provide a stepping stone to a future purchase of Il-76MD-90As. 4 UAC’s Il-76MD-90A flight simulator, showing the LCD screens and modern avionics that distinguish the new Candid from previous generations. UAC 5 The Il-76MD-90A’s cockpit features the Kupol-III-76M(A) digital navigation system. UAC 6 Il-76MD-90A RA-78650 during initial tests in September 2012. UAC

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warning role, in which the Indian Air Force presently operates three A-50s.

China is another potential export customer. The Candid is the only strategic transport operated by the country’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Russia and China signed a preliminary agreement in September 2005 for 34 Il-76MD transports and four Il-78MK tankers. The aircraft covered by that deal were to come from the Tashkent factory, with 15 being newly-manufactured and the remainder half-finished machines. But the Tashkent plant’s financial difficulties meant it was unable to fulfil that contract.

Instead, in 2012 China ordered ten used ex-Russian military and civilian Il-76s from Russian export agency Rosoboronexport. Russia hopes that this contract will provide a stepping stone to a future purchase by China of new Il-76MD-90As for the PLAAF, although whether that happens will depend on progress in testing and introducing to service China’s indigenously-developed Yi’an Y-20 strategic airlifter.

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IL 76 Candid