The History and Development of the Ilyushin Il-76 'Candid'

Proposal and production of the Il-76 undoubtedly signified a major advance in Soviet aircraft design and manufacturing techniques, and also gave an immense boost to both Aeroflot and their military transport air arm, the Voenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya (VT-A). Although most observers believe that the Ilyushin OKB (design team) took their inspiration directly from the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter which appeared five years earlier, the actual requirements were far more stringent and exacting than for the American aircraft.

The Ilyushin OKB were tasked with designing a successor to the Antonov An-12, a medium range turboprop transport with good rough field capability. This new aircraft would have to possess twice the range and payload of the earlier type, without suffering any loss in field performance. It's nominal task was the ability to transport a 40 tonne load over 5000 km in less than six hours, at a lower cost than the An-12 would be able to achieve. Other requirements were a 900 m and 500 m take-off/ landing run, plus the ability to operate on rough strips or the equivalent, if necessary away from maintenance areas for up to 90 days.

The basic layout, conceived in 1967, was indeed similar to the Lockheed, but the new design had a larger cargo hold area and more powerful engines to achieve the desired performance. Over thirty international patents were obtained for the design, and the OKB later claimed that 180 new inventions were incorporated into the aircraft.

During the summer of 1969, two prototypes for flight development and eventual Aeroflot evaluation (CCCP-86711 and CCCP-86712), and four more for V-TA evaluation, were laid down at the GAZ-30 plant at Khodinka in north west Moscow. Usual practice at this time was to road completed prototypes to Vnukovo Airport for flight testing. However, there was a rush to show off the new type at that year's Paris Air Show, so initial flights were conducted from Khodinka itself.

The first Il-76 to fly (CCCP-86712, the second prototype), did so on March 25th 1971, and was the subject of an abbrieviated test programme, faultless handling having been noted as a characteristic of the type. The aircraft made it's public debut at Sheremetyevo Airport on May 18th 1971, much to the surprise of Western observers and flew to Paris exactly a week later.

At that trade show, and two years later, when CCCP-86711 was finally exhibited, the designers were at pains to point out the civilian possibilities of the aircraft. However, other staff at the show did not hide the military potential for the type, and indeed the V-TA prototypes were well into their testing programmes by 1973. This was exposed to the world by the August 5th 1977 edition of the Soviet Army magazine Red Star, which showed airborne troops embarking by the rear hatch door of an Il-76 equipped with a tail turret.

Certification of the Il-76 by the Soviet Civil Air Ministry was achieved in 1974, and the two prototypes were assigned to Aeroflot for intensive trials, then in 1976 to the Tyumen Directorate for evaluation of oil and gas field support duties. This would be the mainstay of the aircraft's role during the next two decades.

Meanwhile, twenty-five pre-production aircraft had been laid down at Khodinka. The GAZ-243 facility at Tashkent in Uzbekistan, which was still producing the Il-62 airliner, started to gear up for large scale series production of the Il-76. The first pre-production airframe (CCCP-76500) rolled off the Khodinka line in early 1975 in readiness for that year's Paris show. Essentially similar to the prototypes, these pre-production examples benefitted from experiences with the Aeroflot and VT-A trials aircraft, various changes being incorporated into the sixteenth aircraft (CCCP-76515) and beyond. This basic production model was called the Il-76T, and the military equivalent was named the Il-76M. Overall dimensions stayed constant, but additional fuel tanks were installed in the wings and payload was increased by eight per cent.

In July 1975, a pre-production Il-76 established twenty-five new payload/altitude records during four test flights, 24 of which were later ratified by the FAI. Now brought firmly to the attention of NATO, the new type was named Candid. The Il-76T began operating on selected internal Aeroflot flights during late 1976, and international flights followed in early 1978, the first regular flight being Sofia-Moscow in April of that year. It had not escaped Western eyes that the Aeroflot aircraft would be an important reserve to those surely operated by the military, and indeed this was the case.

The VT-A began to deploy Il-76M's at about the same time as the Il-76T entered service with Aeroflot. The military version differed by having four ECM fairings on the nose, different avionics plus the rear gun turret, mounting two twin barrelled 23mm GSh-23L cannon. Il-76M's operating in Afghanistan were also fitted with flare dispensers. A pressurised cargo compartment, somewhat larger than that available in the C-141, allows the carriage of 140 troops or 125 paratroops. The civil Il-76T can accept up to three passenger modules each seating thirty. The rear ramp can also act as a lifting device for loads up to 30000 kg, in addition to the winches and hoists fitted in the hold. The type also has an excellent rough strip capability, with tyre pressures being adjustable in flight to suit differing ground conditions.

The beginning of the 1980's saw new build Il-76's being fitted with Soloviev D-30KP-1 turbofans to replace the earlier D-30KP's, the new engine being a 'hot and high' development , increasing the type's range and payload at higher ambient temperatures. This new version was called the Il-76TD, with the associated military designation Il-76MD.

Export models were now being offfered, thirty Il-76M's and Il-76MD's ostensibly operating as part of Iraqi Airways' fleet, but in reality operated as part of Saddam Hussein's air force. Libyan Arab Airlines acquired 21 Il-76T's, and Syrianair received two Il-76T's and two Il-76M's. Algeria, Cuba and North Korea also operate the type, as does the Indian Air Force, 24 Il-76MD's being delivered from July 1985 to 25 and 44 Sqns. Other examples were utilised in the cosmonaut training programme, and at least two participated in the Soviet Star Wars project. Following the break up of the old Soviet Union in 1991, and the disintegration of Aeroflot into various smaller, national airlines, various Il-76's found their way into the hands of the emerging Central Asian nations, including several ex military examples.

A brief history of the type would not be complete without reference to the Midas and Mainstay derivatives of the Il-76. Midas, the NATO reporting name for the Il-78 tanker version, is a three (or sometimes two) point air to air refuelling aircraft which is slowly replacing the elderly and incapable Myasishchev M-4 Bisons which have been operating in the tanker role since the 1960's. Mainstay, or the A-50 as it has been referred to in official documentation, is also slowly replacing the equally old and certainly ineffective Tupolev Tu-126 Moss AWACS platforms in the Voyska PVO home defence forces. Essentially an Il-76 with a 'Sentry' type radar platform forward of the tail, some fifteen to eighteen Mainstays were in service by 1990, production continuing at Tashkent certainly up until 1991.

Ilyushin's versatile transport has served well in both Aeroflot and VT-A use for the last twenty years, and has found a new lease of life in the airlines of the emerging nations. No doubt Newcastle Airport has not seen the last of the Il-76.