VORONEZH. June 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The light military transport aircraft Ilyushin Il-112V will take off for the first time at the end of 2018, its serial production will be launched in 2020, Ilyushin Aviation Complex's General Director and the United Aircraft Corporation's Vice President for Transport Aviation Alexei Rogozin said.
"The Il-112V is an aircraft built practically from scratch. We are planning its first flight by the end of this year," Rogozin said during a visit to Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO) on Friday.
Currently, the plane is in a final-assembly room where its systems are being set up, he said. "Of course, it has a whole host of onboard experimental systems which to a certain extent might fail during these trials, because this equipment is completely new," the head of Ilyushin said.
From about 2020, VASO will begin serial production of the aircraft, he said.
The Il-112V is designed to carry and airdrop up to five tons of light weapons, military hardware, supplies and personnel, and carry a wide nomenclature of various goods when used for commercial purposes.