The Mystery of the Il-276: An Unfulfilled Hope or a Potential That Can Still Be Realized

The long-suffering project of a domestic transport aircraft, which went through three names - Il-214, MTA/MTC and Il-276, never saw the light of day. Started at the Ilyushin Design Bureau in 2001, it stalled at the design stage. Tekhnosfera Rossiya examines the reasons for the failure and wonders about the possibility of its revival.

Why was there a need for this aircraft at all?

Back in 2001, when the Russian economy had not yet recovered from the crisis of the 90s, the idea of creating a new Il-214 aircraft seemed utopian, unless funding came from abroad. In this case, a foreign customer was found immediately - India. Similar to the contracts of that time, for example, for the Su-30MKI, the Indian side was to receive its Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA). This would allow to refine the version for the Russian Air Force - the Il-214 multi-purpose transport aircraft (MTA). It was planned that the new machine would replace the outdated An-12.

But not only the An-12. Indian partners expected that the MTA would also replace their An-32 fleet. In total, it was planned to produce more than 200 new aircraft, of which the Russian military wanted to receive about 100 aircraft, and the Indian military - at least 45.

The first flight of the Il-214 (MTA/MTC) was scheduled for 2017, which allocated more than 15 years for the design and creation of a prototype. Serial production in Russia was to be established by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. However, as is often the case with post-Soviet production cooperation projects, implementation was constantly delayed, and then stopped altogether. The agreement on the start of joint work was signed only in 2007, and in 2015 India withdrew from the project.

In the future, the development of the aircraft was transformed into the "new project" Il-276, which Russia planned to implement independently, based on the developments on the Il-214. This process was launched.

In 2017, the Il-276 model was tested in the aerodynamic tubes of TsAGI, during which the aerodynamic characteristics with a mechanized wing in take-off and landing modes, as well as the influence of ground proximity, were studied.

At the end of 2018, the media reported on the approval by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of tactical and technical requirements for the new medium military transport aircraft (SVTS) Il-276. The military saw the aircraft in two modifications: with PS-90A-76 engines (from Il-76MD-90A) and with promising PD-14 (from MS-21, but modified).

Sunset of the project

In 2019-2020, the adjusted project was presented to the Russian Aerospace Forces as a replacement for the An-12. However, for unknown reasons, work at the Ilyushin Design Bureau was suspended. According to some reports, the new management suspended all "unnecessary" projects, which led to a protracted competition between the Il-276 and the Tu-330. There were no official statements on this matter.

The Il-276 was to become a modern twin-engine medium-sized aircraft: length about 40 meters, take-off weight 68-72 tons, flight range with 20 tons of cargo (up to 150 military personnel or light armored vehicles) - 2000 km (ferry range - 7000 km), maximum speed - 870 km/h (cruising - about 800 km/h).

The dimensions of the cargo cabin were to be identical to the Il-76MD-90A, which would allow the use of the existing infrastructure. The aircraft was to provide an autonomous solution to transport tasks and preparation for departure by the crews. The avionics were planned to be built "on an open architecture", with a single information and control field of the pilots' cabin, 6 LCD displays and 2 LCD indicators on the windshield.

At the beginning of 2021, information appeared about the "closure" of the project, but this was not officially confirmed. Thus, a certain amount of work has been completed on the Il-276, but even in 2025 it is unclear whether it will be implemented.

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