The first prototype of the modernized Russian military transport aircraft IL-76MD-90A (code name IL-476) has completed the first phase of official tests under a Russian Defense Ministry program, the press service of the Ilyushin aircraft complex has announced. The airplane flew from the airfield of the M. M. Gromov Flight Research Institute (Zhukovsky, near Moscow) to the airfield of the Aviastar-SP company (Ulyanovsk) on December 4 for further modification.
The completion of the first phase of official tests grants the right for mass production of the aircraft and commencement of mass production of an initial batch of the aircraft and its modifications.
A joint team from the IL open joint-stock company and the Russian Defense Ministry performed the tests. Thirty-eight flights were performed, the functioning of the airplane’s flight instruments and its constituent systems, as well as the airplane’s fuel, automatic flight control, and radio communication systems were tested. The airplane was also tested for stability at the maximum speed, the maximum payload, and simultaneously at the maximum speed and maximum payload. It was flown at its maximum takeoff weight of 210 tons and its maximum landing weight of 170 tons, and a technique for making a second landing approach when one of the airplane’s two engines fails was perfected.
The airplane will be modified at the Ulyanovsk plant. Installation of a new communications system, a defense system, as well internal and external video cameras is planned. The prototype will begin the second phase of tests in Zhukovsky upon completion of its modification. The second phase of tests will involve testing the airplane’s onboard defense and onboard communications systems, as well as airdropping of cargo and equipment.
The airplane was developed by the S.V. Ilyushin Aviation Complex and manufactured at the Aviastar-SP factory. The decision to develop and manufacture the upgraded IL-76 in Ulyanovsk was made in December 2006 based on a government order.
