TSAMTO, October 11. During a working trip to Ulyanovsk, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, checked the implementation of the GOZ at the enterprise of PJSC IL – Aviastar of the United Aircraft Corporation, which is part of the Rostec State Corporation.
According to the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation inspected the production process of IL-76MD-90A aircraft, as well as the repair and maintenance of AN-124-100 aircraft.
The General Director of the UAC, Yuri Slyusar, reported to the head of the Russian military department that today the Il-76MD-90A aircraft provided for in the production program of 2023 are in various degrees of readiness in the production of Aviastar. The planes scheduled for delivery this year will be delivered to the troops within the deadlines set by contractual obligations.
The head of the UAC in the aircraft repair and maintenance shop reported to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation on the planned work on the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft.
Sergei Shoigu specified the type of engines that are planned to be installed on promising models of heavy transport aircraft, as well as during the repair and modernization of the AN-124-100. The commander of the VTA, Lieutenant General Vladimir Benediktov, reported that "now there are two options for configuration - either the upgraded D–18T or PD-35."
Following the results of work at the enterprise, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation held a working meeting with the leadership of the United Aircraft Corporation and the relevant central military administration bodies, during which the state and prospects for the development of military transport aviation were considered.
"Today we will consider extremely important issues for today – this is the state and capacity-building of military transport aviation. Taking into account the special military operation, the workload of military transport aviation has actually increased several times, we have exceeded the workload that was for military transport aviation in the most tense times of the Soviet Union by almost two times," the Russian Defense Minister noted during the meeting.
Sergei Shoigu added that the load continues to increase. In this connection, he drew attention to the fact that "firstly, we need to maintain the fleet that we have in working order. Secondly, we need to increase this fleet by obtaining new vehicles, which are the latest modification of the Il-76, which we have seen today and which we already have in combat. Of course, they show excellent combat characteristics, but there are also opportunities to continue improving these machines, to increase their range and carrying capacity."
"In addition, today we have to make decisions and consider all issues on the AN-124 heavy transport aircraft. By 2025, we must double their number due to the fact that we now have engines, we have the capabilities and capacity to modernize these aircraft. By 2025, they should be doubled," the head of the Russian military department said.
In conclusion, Sergei Shoigu stressed that "today we will consider the most important issue that has long required its solution. This solution has been found. Now we need to decide on the timing of how soon, and how quickly, we will be able to implement this decision, I mean light transport aircraft, which should replace the AN-72 and An-26. What has been done in this part and what needs to be done."
