India will replace its current fleet of military transport aircraft An-32 and Il-76 of Russian production. This follows from the official press release of the government of the republic.
The introduction of medium transport aircraft by replacing the fleet of An-32 and Il-76 aircraft will meet the strategic, tactical and operational needs of the Air Force in air transportation.
According to information from open sources, the Indian Air Force has more than 25 aircraft based on the Il-76 platform in various modifications.
More precisely, about 17 units of Il-76MD, about six Il-78MKI tanker aircraft and up to three A-50EI long-range radar detection and control aircraft. The latter were developed precisely on the basis of the Il-76, but with Israeli radars.
In early March, it became known that India plans to hold a large tender for the purchase of 60 transport aircraft with a total cost of approximately $12 billion. Local media wrote that Ilyushin with the Il-76MD-90A proposal could become a participant, but would have to compete with Lockheed Martin, Airbus and Embraer.
It should be noted that the Il-76 is historically classified as a heavy transport aircraft with a carrying capacity of up to 60 tons, and the An-32 is classified as light (about 7 tons).