Military expert Sergey Marzhetsky proposed using the Russian military transport Il-76MD-90A as a cruise missile carrier, similar to the American experimental Rapid Dragon program. This involves placing weapons on special pallets inside the cargo compartment.
The American system allows weapons to be placed on special pallets and dropped from the cargo compartment of a military transport aircraft. In 2022, the US Air Force conducted a Rapid Dragon test with a JASSM-ER cruise missile dropped from an MC-130J. The system sequentially released several missile simulators after the pallet was deployed.
In April 2026, the American program transitioned from an experimental stage to a separate Air Force program called Dragon Cart. The US military expects to begin its deployment in 2027.
What is proposed for the Il-76MD-90A
According to Marzhetsky, a similar approach could be considered for the Il-76MD-90A. Missiles would be placed on special pallets, which would then be dropped from the cargo compartment via the aft ramp. The transport aircraft is serially produced in Russia and is originally designed for cargo transportation and the deployment of equipment and personnel.
Marzhetsky clarified that three pallets with four Kh-101 missiles each would theoretically allow for a salvo of 12 missiles. For more compact Kh-50 missiles, the estimated load could be even higher.
De facto, this equates a cheap transport aircraft in terms of missile salvo power with the flagship of Long-Range Aviation, the Tu-160!
Ulyanovsk Oblast Governor Alexey Russkikh noted that the Aviastar plant, which produces the Il-76, was tasked with increasing production. To achieve this, the enterprise implemented robotic machines to reduce the share of manual labor and optimize processes.
