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Sunday, January 3, 2010

'RIA Novosti': Russian military to receive Il-476 heavy transport planes in 2012

MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) 15:1225/12/2009

The Russian Air Force will start receiving Il-476 heavy transport planes in 2012, the commander of the Russian Air Force's military transport aviation said on Friday.

The Il-476 is a significantly modernized version of Russia's Il-76 Candid transport plane, featuring a fully-digital flight control system, new avionics and PS-90A-76 engines with improved fuel efficiency systems.

"I think the Il-476, which will eventually replace the Il-76, will start arriving in the military transport aviation sometime in 2012," Lt. Gen. Viktor Kachalkin said.

The plane will be built at the Urals-based Aviastar-SP aircraft-manufacturing plant.

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to buy at least 38 Il-476 in cargo and aerial tanker versions in line with the state arms procurement program for the period of 2011-2020.

According to various sources, there are up to 300 transport aircraft in servi thece with Russian Air Force, including An-12 Cub, An-72 Coaler, An-22 Cock, An-124 Condor and Il-76 Candid planes. Most of the aircraft entered service in the 1960s and 1970s and are considered outdated by modern safety and noise pollution standards.

The Russian Federation offered humanitarian aid to the United States following Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft landed at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock, Arkansas on September 8.  

This marked the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.

India also used an Il-76 to deliver aid on September 13, 2005 for Katrina victims.

This earlier Il-76 aircraft looks very much like an USAF C-141 Starlifter, but it is far bigger.  The USAF decommissioned the C-141 and replaced it with the C-17 in May 2006.

source: http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20091225/157372581.html

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