Il-76

The backbone of Russian operational airlift since 1974 — a four-engine heavy-transport that moves troops, outsize cargo and paratroops, and provides the airframe for the A-50 Mainstay AEW&C and the Il-78 Midas tanker.

Overview

The Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO reporting name Candid) is a long-range, four-engine jet-driven strategic airlifter that entered Soviet service in the mid-1970s and remains the Russian Aerospace Forces’ primary military-transport workhorse. The modernised Il-76MD-90A (also labelled Il-476) keeps the type in production at Aviastar-SP in Ulyanovsk, mating a redesigned wing and digital flight deck with Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 high-bypass turbofans. Apart from airlift and airdrop, the airframe underpins the Beriev A-50 airborne early-warning aircraft and the Il-78 Midas tanker. More than 950 airframes have been built across all variants, and the aircraft operates with a wide export user base including India, Algeria, China and Belarus.

Development

The Il-76 first flew on 25 March 1971 and entered operational service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1974, as detailed in profiles of its tanker derivative, the Il-78 Airforce Technology. Production originally took place at the Tashkent Aviation Production Association and, from the 2010s, shifted to the modernised Aviastar-SP plant in Ulyanovsk. The main production variant today is the Il-76MD-90A, which received its first contract in 2012 and has been delivered in low-tens numbers despite Russian ambitions for a larger fleet renewal.

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