Ilyushin Il-76

The Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967, as a replacement for the Antonov An-12. It was designed to deliver heavy machinery to remote, poorly served areas. Military versions of the Il-76 have been widely used in Europe, Asia and Africa, including use as an aerial refueling tanker or command center.

The Il-76 has seen extensive service as a commercial freighter for ramp-delivered cargo, especially for outsized or heavy items unable to be otherwise carried. It has also been used as an emergency response transport for civilian evacuations as well as for humanitarian aid and disaster relief around the world. Because of its ability to operate from unpaved runways, it has been useful in undeveloped areas. Specialized models have also been produced for aerial firefighting and zero-G training.

Variants

Developmental/Prototype Aircraft

• Il-76TD-90/Il-76MD-90: Engine upgrades to Perm PS-90s.
• Il-76 firebomber: Firefighting aircraft to drop exploding capsules filled with fire retardant.
• Il-76PSD: SAR version of Il-76MF
• Il-96: Early development of convertible passenger/cargo aircraft, (project only, designation re-used later)
• Il-150: proposed Beriev A-50 with Perm PS-90 engines.
• Beriev A-60: Airborne laser weapon testbed. (Il-76 version 1A)

Special purpose/research aircraft

• Il-76LL: Il-76 with reinforced wing (at least 3 aircraft) to be used as test-bed aeroplane for engine prototypes flight testing in Gromov Flight Research Institute.
• Izdeliye-176: Prototype Il-76PP.
• Izdeliye-576:
• Izdeliye-676: Telemetry and communications relay aircraft, for use during trial programs (prototype).
• Izdeliye-776: Telemetry and communications relay aircraft, for use during trial programs (prototype).
• Izdeliye-976 ("SKIP"/Il-976/Il-76SK) – (СКИП – Самолетный Контрольно-Измерительный Пункт, Airborne Check-Measure-and-Control Center): Il-76/A-50 based Range Control and Missile tracking platform. Initially built to support Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile tests.
• Izdeliye-1076: Special mission aircraft for unknown duties.
• Izdeliye-1176: ELINT electronic intelligence aircraft, or Il-76-11.

Military variants

• Il-76-Tu160 tailplane transporter: One-off temporary conversion to support Tu-160 emergency modification program.
• Il-76D: ('D' for "Desantnyi", Десантный – "Paratrooper transport") has a gun turret in the tail for defensive purposes.
• Il-76K/Il-76MDK/Il-76MDK-II: Zero-g cosmonaut trainer (dlya podgotovki kosmonavtov), used by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
• Il-76LL: Engine testbed, (ooniversahl'naya letayuschchaya laboratoriya).
• Il-76M: Military transport version, (modifitseerovannyy – modified).
• Il-76MD: Improved military transport version, (modifitseerovannyy Dahl'ny – modified, long-range).
• Il-76MD Skal'pel-MT: Mobile Hospital
• IL-76M/Il-76MD: Built without military equipment but designated as Ms and MDs (Gordon – 'Falsies')
• Il-76MD-90: An Il-76MD with quieter and more economical Aviadvigatel PS-90 high-bypass turbofan engines.
• Il-76MF: Stretched military version with a 6.6 m longer fuselage, PS-90A-76 engines, maximum takeoff weight of 210 tonnes and a lift capability of 60 tonnes. First flew in 1995, not built in series so far, just built for Jordan.
• Il-76PP: ECM aircraft, major problems with ECM equipment on the Izdeliye-176 only.
• Il-76MD-M: Modernized Il-76MD for the Russian Air Force.
• Il-76MD-90A: An upgraded version with a new glass cockpit, upgraded avionics, new one-piece carbon-fiber wing, and Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 engines. It was also known as Il-476 while in development.
• Il-76T/TD: Built as military aircraft but given civilian designations. (Gordon – 'Falsie')
• Ilyushin Il-78/Il-78M/Il-78MD-90A: Aerial refueling tanker.
• IL-78MKI: A customized version of the Il-78 developed for the Indian Air Force.
• Il-82: Airborne Command Post/communications relay aircraft, (alternative designation – Il-76VKP-'version65S').
• Il-84: Maritime Search and Rescue aircraft, (alternative designation – Il-76PS-poiskovo-spasahtel'nyy), not produced.
• Beriev A-50/Beriev A-50M/Beriev A-50I/Beriev A-50E: Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft. Beriev given control over the program.
• Beriev A-100: An AEW&C version of the Il-76MD-90A.

Civil Variants

• Il-76MGA: Initial Commercial freighter. (two prototypes and 12 production) equipped with Soloviev D-30 Turbofan engines.
• Il-76MD to Il-76TD conversions: Complete removal of military equipment, identified by crude cover over OBIGGS inlet in Starboard Sponson.
• Il-76P/Il-76TP/Il-76TDP/Il-76MDP: Firefighting aircraft. The Il-76 waterbomber is a VAP-2 1.5-hour install/removal tanking kit conversion. The Il-76 can carry up to 13,000 U.S. gallons (49,000 liters) of water; 3.5 times the capacity of the C-130 Hercules. Since this kit can be installed on any Il-76, the designation Il-76TP, Il-76TDP are also used when those versions of the Il-76 are converted into waterbombers. The Il-76P was first unveiled in 1990.
• Il-76T: ('T' for Transport, Транспортный) unarmed civil cargo transport version. NATO code-name "Candid-A". It first flew on November 4^th, 1978.
• Il-76TD: The civil equivalent of the Il-76MD, first flew in 1982, equipped with Soloviev D-30 Turbofan engines.
• Il-76TD-90: An Il-76TD with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines and a partial glass cockpit.
• Il-76TD-90VD: An Il-76TD with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines and a partial glass cockpit. It was developed specially for Volga-Dnepr cargo company, which operates five aircraft as of 2021.
• Il-76TD-S: Civilian mobile Hospital, similar to Il-76MD Skal'pel-MT.
• Il-76TF: Civil transport stretched version with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines. It is the civil version of the Il-76MF (none produced).

Foreign variants

• Beriev A-50E/I: For the Indian Air Force. Hosts Israeli Phalcon radar for AEW&C and Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines.
• Il-76MD tanker: Iraqi Air Force tanker conversions.
• KJ-2000: Domestic Chinese airborne early warning and control conversion of Il-76, developed after A-50I was cancelled and currently in service with the armed forces of China.
• CFTE engine testbed: The China Flight Test Establishment (CFTE) currently operates a flying testbed converted from a Russian-made Il-76MD jet transport aircraft to serve as a flying testbed for future engine development programs. The first engine to be tested on the aircraft is the WS-10A "Taihang" turbofan, currently being developed as the powerplant for China's indigenous J-10 and J-11 fighter aircraft. Il-76MD #76456, acquired by the AVIC 1 from Russia in the 1990s, is currently based at CFTE's flight test facility at Yanliang, Shaanxi Province.
• Baghdad-1: Iraqi development with a radar mounted in the cargo hold enabling it to serve as AEW&C, used in the Iran–Iraq War.
• Baghdad-2: Iraqi development (with French assistance) with fiberglass-reinforced plastic radome over the antenna of the Thomson-CSF Tiger G surveillance radar with a maximum detection range of 350 km (190 nmi; 220 mi). One was destroyed on the ground during the 1991 Persian Gulf War; two others were flown to Iran where they remained. At least one went into service with the IRIAF. One aircraft crashed following a midair collision with a HESA Saeqeh fighter, during the annual Iranian military parade in Tehran. It can be distinguished from the Beriev A-50 by having the Il-76 navigator windows in the nose, which the A-50 does not.

Users

• Algeria
  • Algerian Air Force x 18
• Angola
  • Angolan Air Force x 1
• Armenia
  • Armenian Air Force x 3
• Azerbaijan
  • Azerbaijan Air and Air Defence Force x 1
• Belarus
  • Belarussian Air Force x 4
• People's Republic of China
  • People's Liberation Army Air Force x 17 + 30 Il-76MD-90A on order
• Egpyt
  • Egyptian Air Force x ?
• India
  • Indian Air Force x 24
• Iran
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force x 17
• Iraq
  • Iraqi Air Force x 2
• Jordan
  • Royal Jordanian Air Force x 2
• Libya
  • Libyan Air Force x 17
• Russia
  • Russian Air Force x 120 + 39 Il-76MD-90A on order
• Soviet Union
  • Soviet Air Force
• Syria
  • Syrian Arab Air Force x 4
• Ukraine
  • Ukrainian Air Force x 6
• Uzbekistan
  • Uzbekistan Air Force x 6
• Yemen
  • Yemen Air Force x 3

See Also

Related

• Beriev A-50
• Beriev A-100
• Ilyushin Il-78

Comparable Aircraft

• Antonov An-22
• Antonov An-70
• Antonov An-124
• Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
• Bombardier CC-194 Galaxy
• Lockheed C-141 Starlifter
• Xian Y-20