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World Defense & Security News - Russia
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Russia's first upgraded Il-76MDM airlifter to take to the skies in February
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The first military transport aircraft upgraded under the Il-76MDM (NATO reporting name: Candid) program will take to the air in February 2016, Sergei Velmozhin, director general of Ilyushin JSC (a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation), told journalists on Wednesday. "We have planned the maiden flight of the first Il-76, upgraded to Il-76MDM standard, for February," he said.
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 The Il-76MDM is an upgraded variant of the Ilyuhsin Il-76MD military transport aircraft |
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According to Velmozhin, the manufacture of an upgraded variant of the Il-78 (Midas) tanker plane "is nearing the end. We are awaiting an in-service Il-78 for the upgrade," the director general added.
He explained that the company was pursuing two concurrent programs - one on upgrading the in-service Il-76s and Il-78s and the other on developing new aircraft. The first Il-76 was submitted for the upgrade in 2014, which was due for completion in December 2015. The airlifters are to be fitted with sophisticated avionics and aircraft equipment under the Il-76MDM program. The first Il-76 brought for the upgrade also will be powered by PS-90A engines that are more efficient than the current ones. |
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