The planned re-engining of Il-76 with PS-90 continues ,but not many customers as yet

Published: 1/20/2000

Radiy Popkovsky, the designer responsible for the Il-76 at Ilyushin, has insisted that demand exists from a number of large operators for the Perm Motors PS-90A to be fitted on the Il-76 in 2000. The company itself is a little more reluctant to confirm the plan, other than to acknowledge its existence and commenting that, of their potential customers, “nobody has the money to afford it". The plan to replace the Il-76"s Aviadvigatel D-30KP-2 engines with the more efficient and better range PS-90s has been around for some time in the form of the Il-76MF/TF project, along with a number of re-engining proposals, including re-engining with the General Electric (GE) CFM 56 and, potentially, the Samara NK-93, which was to have been tested on the Il-76LL test aircraft in 1995. The GE discussions even reached an agreement between the company, Ilyushin and TAPO, with TAPO committing money to fit the engines. The project, however, lost its early impetus, due to the high cost of refitting, estimated by GE to be as much as $30m per aircraft. According to Popkovsky, the flying cost savings for the operator of the Il-76 could be as much as 20% on its $4000 per hour. He calculates that the design changes required for the most common Il-67TD would be small, giving a potential market for the re-engined aircraft, at a price of $30-35m, of over 100 aircraft by 2005, replacing the 200 Il-76TD currently operated in Russia. Popkovsky argues that, with the residual value of the current Il-76"s at around $10m an aircraft, the investment of $8m for four engines could considerably improve the value of the younger aircraft in the fleet. However, many of the Il-76s, such as the 13 operated by Aeroflot, are at the end not only of their engine lives, but also of their frame lives. The improvement in range, using the PS-90, could potentially allow the Il-76 to fly non-stop from Moscow to Central China: a key route for many of the aircraft operated on the lucrative shuttle trade, when the re-engining was first mooted. Re-engined aircraft would also allow operators to meet the current ICAO noise regulations which, given the considerable business generated by Russian cargo carriers outside of Russia, makes replacement of the noisy D-30 attractive in conceptual terms, at least. To date, the only reported buyer of the PS-90 engined Il-76MF has been Ilavia, Ilyushin"s own carrier, which took delivery of the prototype aircraft at Gromov Flight Testing Centre after the end of trials and, in 1996, placed orders for two aircraft for military aviation transport, although it is likely that they remain undelivered. In May 1999, Genrikh Novozhilov, General Designer of Ilyushin, reported four MFs to be at various stages of completion at TAPO in Tashkent. In November 1999, only two were confirmed as being near completion, without engines, although one was reported to be close to fitting. It seems unlikely that the Il-76MF will find many customers in the short term, despite a cargo market that is considerably healthier than the passenger market, given the present low lease rates and the sheer numbers of Il-76s, both military and civil, available for hire. In the long term, however, the numbers of aircraft reaching the end of their lives, combined with noise regulations and high fuel costs, may yet see re-engined planes in service. Long term funding will still have to be found and reports from producers, such as GE, suggest the cost of retrofitting engines on old airframes is not cheap. Forty new ‘white tail" airframes do exist at TAPO, having been assembled during the nineties, so giving a good supply of nearly new airframes. This is seen by most commentators as being the only economically viable means of developing the programme. Suggestions have also emerged that the Il-76 could be reconfigured to fly with two engines instead of the four currently required. The military, the aircraft"s largest operator, may yet provide the critical impetus. Despite frequent comments from those involved in the An-70 programme, that the Russian Air Force regards the An-70 as a replacement for the 300 Il-76s in the air force"s fleet and is on the verge of making a large order, a recent feasibility study by the Ministry of Defence suggests otherwise. The report, which was published on 13th January 2000, analysed the An-70 against the Il-76MF and found that the An-70 had a number of disadvantages against the re-engined Il-76. It concludes, according to sources, that the Il-76MF is cheaper, yet provides superior cargo operating parameters and potentially could be in production in 2000, as opposed to the several years needed for the An-70 and the substantial investment required. Production of the An-70 is further complicated by the involvement of the Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan in the programme. Associated articles: www.concise.org 22nd May 1998;16th March 1999;11th May 1999;6th September 1999;27th September 1999;

Article ID: 1337