Il-76TF

Description: The Ilyushin Il-76 is a medium military transport/cargo aircraft originally designed to provide support to the Soviet Army replacing the turboprop powered An-12. Dubbed Candid by NATO, has been suggested as the Soviet counterpart to the United States Air Force C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft. The Il-76 was also developed to meet the requirements of civil cargo transport requirements. Originally, it was powered by four D-30KP turbofan engines which have been replaced in subsequent versions by the PS-90/PS-90AN fuel efficient engine. A rear ramp allows for rapid loading/off-loading of cargo, equipment and/or personnel. Many Il-76 aircraft versions have been produced for military customers (Il-76, Il-76M, Il-76MD and Il-76MF) and civil customers (Il-76TD, Il-76TD-90 and Il-76TF). The Il-78 dubbed 'Midas' is a version developed to play as a tanker aircraft (Il-78M and Il-78MK) and introduced in 1987. The Il-76 project was launched in the late 1960s and the maiden flight was carried out on March 25, 1971. Series production started in 1975. The Il-76 military transport aircraft were provided with two 23mm GSh-23L guns in the tail and require a seven-man aircrew.

The Il-76TD is a civil transport aircraft introduced by Ilyushin in 1982 and featuring increased take-off weight, payload and longer range than the Il-76 military transport aircraft. The Il-76TD is powered by four D-30KP turbofan engines each rated at 12,000kg of thrust. The Il-76TD-90 is a further development of the Il-76TD replacing the D-30KP engines by fuel efficient PS-90A-76. The resulting aircraft has longer range and increased payload capacity. Compared with the Il-76TD, the Il-76TD-90 only requires a five-man crew instead of a six-man crew. The Il-76TD-90 is available as a new production aircraft or as upgrade to existing Il-76TDs.

The Il-76TF is a civil transport aircraft based on the Il-76MF military transport aircraft currently being under development by Ilyushin Aviation Complex. The new civil Il-76 is powered by four fuel efficient PS-90A-76 engines. The 400 m3 cargo compartment would be able to accommodate up to 60 tons of cargo. The aircraft's new cabin will feature a glass cockpit and state-of-the-art avionics which could cut the aircrew requirements to 3 to 4 men. Ilyushin is also focusing on maintenance workload reduction to allow for a greater availability.