Military

Il-276 SVTS Medium Military Transport Aircraft

The IL-276 Medium Military Transport Aircraft [SVTS - Srednego Voenno Transportnogo Samoleta] is a twin-engine jet with a take-off weight of just over 60 tons. In Russia, preparations are under way for development work on the project of the Il-276 medium military transport aircraft. It is reported by the press service of PJSC "IL". Sketch design of the machine is scheduled for completion in 2019. The Il-276 should replace the Soviet An-12 and An-26 in the army. The first aircraft will be equipped with the PS-90 engine, and subsequent production models will be equipped with the latest PD-14. The aircraft will rise into the air in 2023, in 2026, serial deliveries will begin.

In an August 2016 interview with Sergey Velmozhkin, General Director of Aviation complex named. SV Ilyushin (part of UAC), he stated: "As for the SVTS, the project is being conducted by us in an initiative manner. Two engines PS-90A-76 or PD-14 are considered as the power plant of the aircraft. Currently, at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Professor N.Ye. Zhukovsky, work is underway to prepare for scaling in the wind tunnel a scale model of this aircraft, and both with the models of PS-90A and PD-14 engines."

This 2017 aircraft is the 2007 Il-214 Multi-Purpose Transport Aircraft (MPTA) design, minus requirements from India, the MPTA partner. The work was originally planned to be carried out jointly with India, but the partner left the project. Back in the 1990s, the development of the machine in this dimension under the index IL-214 began. Then, in the 2000s, a joint Russian-Indian project of a multi-purpose transport aircraft (MTS) was created, called the Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA) in India. However, for reasons beyond the control of Ilyushin, India suspended participation in this program.

With a payload of about 20 tons, the machine would capable of flying over 6,000 kilometers at a speed of more than 800 kilometers per hour. The Russian Armed Forces are planning to purchase medium-sized IL-276 military transport aircraft. The novelty will be able to transport several combat vehicles or up to hundreds of soldiers at a distance of five to six thousand kilometers. At the same time the IL-276 can do without runways - it easily lands and takes off from ordinary ground.

At present, the Russian army is operating an AN-12 military transport aircraft, which was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The vehicles were widely used for the transfer of troops, during the liquidation of the consequences of emergency situations, in landing and search and rescue operations. They were exported to several dozen countries, participated in military operations in Africa, Afghanistan and the territory of the former USSR.

Pavel Cherenkov, First Deputy General Director of PJSC IL, stated "Now there are about 69 aircraft in the troops. Of these, in working order is much less. And accordingly, by 2027-2028 the life of the resource (at 55 years) expires. And the military needs from the second half of the 2020s to be able to change the fleet of decommissioned An-12 vehicles to another aicraft. In the early 2000s, they returned to the Ilyushin OKB project - especially since India expressed its interest in the joint development of a transport plane of this class".

The idea of creating a medium military transport aircraft (with a carrying capacity of about 20-30 tons) appeared in the late 1980s. Then the project was called Il-88. Ilyushin Design Bureau has worked out the look of the car, but the project was postponed for a while. The characteristics did not provide a fundamental separation from other options - Tu-330 (Tupolev Design Bureau) and An-70 (Antonov Design Bureau). In the early 2000s an agreement was concluded with India on the joint development and production of the Multipurpose Transport Aircraft project. In 2014 the TTZ for the project for a new "medium transport" was agreed upon, but not approved. But in 2015, India withdrew from the deal for various reasons. But the need for a middle-class transport plane remained.

In the interests of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, a new medium military transport aircraft is being created. Working name - IL-276. It will replace the obsolete An-12. The first flight is scheduled for 2023, and from 2026, serial shipments to the troops will begin. Currently, the sketch design of the aircraft is being conducted. The tactical and technical assignment was signed in the Ministry of Industry and Trade and UAC, and approved by the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

The idea of creating a medium military transport aircraft (with a carrying capacity of about 20-30 tons) appeared in the late 1980s. Then the project was called Il-88. Ilyushin Design Bureau has worked out the look of the car, but the project was postponed for a while. The characteristics did not provide a fundamental separation from other options - Tu-330 (Tupolev Design Bureau) and An-70 (Antonov Design Bureau).

The aircraft will be built in the shops of the Ulyanovsk enterprise "Aviastar-SP". This plant has already mastered the production of heavy-duty heavy vehicles IL-76MD-90A, and in the foreseeable future, the range of its products will be replenished with a prospective medium Il-276.

One of the problems of the former MTS / MTA project was the main power plant. For such special requirements that the Indian side put forward, it was necessary to install a PS-90 engine on the plane. However, this engine with a load of 16 tons was clearly more than the needs of the machine, designed for a 20-ton load carried. Without specific Indian requirements, the PD-14 engine, currently being developed at the United Engine Corporation (part of the Rostec State Corporation) for the MS-21 passenger aircraft, is quite suitable for the current SVTS. As for the first stage, Ilyushin offers a variant with PS-90. For a start, it was proposed to purge the full model of the aircraft with the PS-90 and PD-14 engines - they have different diameter gondolas. But it is impossible to reach it without having blown through the full model. Therefore, the idea was proposed to start blowing at a faster pace.

The IL-276 is created on the basis of the unrealized joint Russian-Indian project of the multifunctional transport aircraft MTA (Multi-role Transport Aircraft). The SVTS / Il-276 aircraft is considered, first of all, as a transport vehicle. In doing so, it will in fact become a platform that can be used for various purposes. Probably, in the future, a project of a tanker tanker based on the initial military transport vehicle may appear.

The SVTS program provides for a cruising speed of 800 km/h. In terms of speed characteristics, the new IL-276 will significantly outrun the existing An-12, which will give certain advantages. Practical range with maximum load should reach 2000 km; The distillation - exceed 7,000 km.

The SVTS aircraft will be equipped with air defense equipment. How exactly it is proposed to protect him from possible threats is not specified. Apparently, the means of electronic warfare will be used for defense. It is also possible to use the traditional for domestic transport of a cannon system.

The development of the IL-276 is precisely aimed at the requirements of the military customer. According to the developers, the state is ready and able to buy 12 such aircraft a year. Therefore, according to preliminary estimates, until 2033-2034 Ilyushin's firm will be able to provide only to the Russian military.