Table of contents | |
Development | |
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Background | |
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During the 1960's the Soviet Union needed a new heavy freighter to replace the aging Antonov An-12. In 1967 the Ilyushin design bureau was tasked to design a strategic airlifter able to carry a payload in excess of 40 tons (88,000 lb) over a range of more then 5,000 km (3,100 mi) in less then six hours. Also the freighter had to be able to operate in extreme conditions like the arctic weather in Siberia and northern Russia and had to be capable to land and take-off from short and unprepared airstrips. Initially a double decked 250-passenger airliner was also intended but the project was cancelled. The Ilyushin Il-76 first flew on 25 March 1971. | |
Production | |
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The aircraft's production was allocated to the Tashkent Aviation Production Association in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Back in that period Uzbekistan was a republic of the Soviet Union and as such was part of the production chain of the former communist bloc. During the years around 860 basic variants were produced with some modernized larger variants (MF, TF) being introduced in the 1990's. However only a small quantity of these improved versions were manufactured due to the financial difficulties of the Russian Air Force during the last decade of the 20th century. One such improved version was the Ilyushin Il-76MF - this performed its maiden flight on 1 August 1995 but only a few years later production was halted due to lack of funds. | |
Other developments | |
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Il-476 (Il-76-MD-90A) | |
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Operational Service | |
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Variants | |
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Prototypes and experimental aircraft | |
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Military variants | |
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Civilian variants | |
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Foreign variants | |
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Operators | |
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Accidents | |
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Specifications | |
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Further reading | |
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Strategic airlift Russian Air Force Aviation pagesGo to: Air Station | |