The Soviet Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft could have been left with outdated equipment after the collapse of the USSR. Modernization resumed later, partly due to India's interest in upgrading its Il-38s, Rian reported.
The result was the Il-38N — a modernized version of the maritime reconnaissance aircraft with the Novella-P-38 complex. The new equipment significantly expanded the crew's capabilities for detecting and tracking targets.
Pilots, according to their own words, "see further and hear better": they can detect targets at a distance of up to 90 kilometers, and surface targets — up to 320. And at the same time track dozens of objects.
The complex combined radar, sonar, and radio engineering search tools, allowing the crew to get a more complete picture of the situation.
It should be noted that India itself no longer has Il-38Ns. In the autumn of 2023, the republic's Navy finally decommissioned and withdrew from service its entire fleet of these anti-submarine aircraft.