Moscow. September 8. INTERFAX-The Russian military has received the first Il-76MD-90A heavy military transport aircraft this year, the press service of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) reported.
"The first Il-76MD-90A heavy transport aircraft assembled at the new assembly line of the Ulyanovsk aircraft manufacturing enterprise Aviastar-SP (part of the UAC transport aviation division as part of the Rostec State Corporation) has been transferred to the VTA aviation regiment based in Ulyanovsk. The aircraft was built under a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation," the press service said.
According to the UAC, another such aircraft is ready to be transferred for testing, several more second-generation Il-76s are in various degrees of readiness in the workshops of Aviastar-SP.
"Thanks to the modernization of production facilities and the introduction of a new technological process, the plant plans to steadily increase the serial production of aircraft in the near future, reaching the production rate of 12 aircraft per year, "said Sergey Sheremetov, managing director of Aviastar - SP, quoted in the press service.
The UAC noted that, unlike the previously used technology, the new production line allows reducing the complexity of assembling the aircraft.
"The line consists of ten production facilities for docking fuselage, wing, tail sections, stations for mounting power plants and aircraft systems. It is equipped with a laser positioning system of aggregates, which ensures high accuracy of docking of all elements of the aircraft," the corporation explained.
Earlier it was reported that deliveries of new Il-76MD-90A to the military are being carried out behind schedule. In March 2019, due to the failure of the state defense order, a permanent commission of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Industry and Trade was created for "manual control" of the Aviastar-SP plant. However, at the end of 2019, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation received only three aircraft instead of the planned five, in 2020, three more cars were transferred.
At the Army-2020 forum, it was announced that a new contract was signed between the UAC and the Russian Defense Ministry for the supply of 11 Il-76MD-90A. In December last year, it became known about the signing of a contract for 10 promising Il-78M-90A tanker aircraft, created on the basis of the new Il-76.
In 2021, the Russian Defense Ministry expects to receive five Il-76MD-90A, the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu, said in March. According to him, it is soon necessary to supply 10 new transport vehicles a year, and in the future - 20 aircraft annually, so that by 2030 their fleet will exceed 250 vehicles.
The IL-76MD-90A is the second generation of the Il-76 heavy military transport aircraft. Unlike the combat-ready Il-76MD, they are equipped with more powerful and economical PS-90A-76 engines with a thrust of up to 14.5 tons instead of the "regular" D-30KP2 with a thrust of up to 12 tons.
According to the manufacturer, the new aircraft has increased the carrying capacity and range of delivery of troops and cargo. Thus, the possibility of delivering goods weighing 52 tons has been increased to 5000 kilometers. The maximum load is up to 60 tons.
