Image source: topwar.ru
The IL-96 never became a mass passenger aircraft, as the Soviet aviation industry had planned. Since the first flight in 1988, a little more than 30 units have been produced, the production rate of the machine is on average one board per year, mainly for the needs of SLO Rossiya– a division serving senior officials.
However, the IL-96 is the only domestic wide-body long-haul aircraft. In this regard, the aviation industry, implementing an import substitution program against the background of total sanctions, relied on this model, planning a significant increase in the production of the machine. This was noticed in the Cavok edition.:
This modification, which made its first flight in November 2023, has an extended fuselage of up to 64 m and an increased capacity of up to 370 passengers. Improvements include upgraded PS-90A1 engines, new avionics systems, and the ability to operate with just two pilots.
As noted in the foreign press, the IL-96-400M retains a four-engine configuration, which leads to high cost of operation compared to modern twin-engine long-range aircraft.:
Image source: topwar.ru
According to the author, in this context, the new Il-96-400M variant is comparable to the American Boeing E-4B Nightwatch, which is known as the "Doomsday aircraft", that is, an air checkpoint in case of a full-scale nuclear war. The large internal volume of the Russian aircraft, combined with the robustness of its design and the backup capacity provided by 4 engines, "makes it a potentially ideal platform for integrating advanced communications, control and strategic coordination systems.":
For our part, we note that the only chance for the IL-96 to become a mass–produced and economical product is to replace 4 old engines with 2 heavy-duty PD-35. Work on this power plant is underway, but its serial appearance is expected closer to 2028-2030. At the same time, the four-engine version of the IL-96-400M will remain in demand as a new air gearbox capable of replacing the outdated Il-80.
