Joint selection of Il-76MF and An-70 seems most likely outcome (488 words)

Published: 8/13/2001

With the tender for its serial production pending, the Russian Air Force's (RusAF) transport wing, the VTA, has begun testing the repaired prototype of the An-70 at the air force's main flight test centre, GLITS near Akhtyubinsk in Southern Russia. On 6th August, the An-70, piloted by both Antonov and RusAF pilots, successfully dropped paratroops, together with a BMD-3 armoured vehicle. The aircraft is reported to be going through a series of drops and other evaluations that have almost been completed by the PS-90A powered Il-76MF, the re-engined and stretched version of the current backbone of the VTA, the D-30 powered Il-76MD.The Il-76MD is to be replaced by the successful victor of the tender, involving the An-70 and the Il-76MF, although recent reports speculate that the end result will be a political fudge, involving fewer An-70s, together with Il-76MFs, on cost grounds. Yuri Klishin, Deputy Commander of the air force, apparently mindful of the sensitivity surrounding the tender, was keen to play down any competition, by stressing that he did not consider the two aircraft to be pitted against each other. He pointed out that the Il-76 was a larger aircraft with a significantly higher payload than the An-70's 15-25 tonnes optimal weight and, as such, the two were capable of fulfilling different requirements. Commenting on the virtues of the Il-76MF, reported to be 14%-16% more efficient as a result of its PS-90As, Klishin said that the VTA continued to need a transport aircraft capable of carrying a payload of 6-6.5 tonnes over 6,500km at 650-700km/h. However, he also observed that the producer of such an aircraft -expected to be Ilyushin- is unlikely to be the sole supplier. What this means exactly is unclear as, this year, Ilyushin has signed a series of agreements with India's HAL, reported to worth $250m. The agreements concern the development of the Il-214, initially as a military variant for the Indian Air Force. In earlier forms, the aircraft was selected in 1999 by the Russian MoD as the An-26 replacement. According o Victor Litvanov, General Director of Ilyushin, the MoD reiterated its commitment to the aircraft, so prompting the bureau to continue to self fund its development, with RusAF in the wings as a certain buyer. Given Klishin's comments and the current tender for serial production by RAKA, there seems every chance that the decision will include both the An-70 and the Il-76MF. This would be in keeping with commitments made at the highest level on both programmes: most recently, by President Putin, during a visit to the TAPO facility, which produces the Il-76MF. Klishin's remarks seem to be laying the ground for such a decision, which would result in keeping the Il-76MF rolling off the line in Tashkent, as well as the An-70s in Russia, even if on a considerably slower programme than at first envisaged.

Article ID: 2700