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Classic Ilyushins 40-year-old Il-76 design has been extensively reworked and will re-enter production in 2014, Dubbed has Il-476, it is a new-generation Il-76 transport aircraft which features new Perm PS-90A-76 engines, a Kupol-M avionics suite from Kotlin-Novator and a new glass cockpit.
II-476 variant offers 10% lower fuel burn, and will have an increased maximum takeoff weight of 210t. The new aircraft will have a range of 2,700nm (5,000km) with a 52t payload, and can also be operated from paved and unpaved runways with an elevation of up to 9,840ft (3,000m).
Russia recently carried out its first flight of this new generation aircraft and has also placed orders of 39 aircrafts for its airforce; Russia also has orders of 30 aircrafts by Chinese air force. aircraft will enter production by 2014 and Russia will target old users to have export success and India and china are largest operators of this transport aircraft and both are looking for retiring them in next few years .
Classic Il-76s is been operated by many forces in the world and many actually are on the verge of been phased out in next few years, Indian air force currently operates nearly Two Dozen of Russian made Il-76 aircrafts.
IAF operates 17 Il-76MD which are powered by older engines and 6 Il-78MKI Aerial Tankers and 3 A-50 AWACS which are powered by new generation PS-90A-76 engines, IAF some years back had complained that they were not happy with supply of spares for the new PS-90A-76 engines, but that seems to have sorted out.
Indian air force has ordered 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III which makes IAF second largest operator of this fleet after USA , and options for more jets are open in the original contract . IAF will consider availability of cheaper II-476.
II-476 will offer Indian air force a cheaper replacement to its 17 Il-76MD fleet and also will require minimal infrastructure and Trained manpower support for this aircrafts and future A-50 Awacs for Russian air force will be based on this aircraft and II-476 could also be one of the platforms on which DRDO developed AWACS could be mounted . Awacs India Project requires new long range aircraft and considering current AWACS are based on Il-76 platform.
Ilyushin Il-476: Options for India | idrw.org