MOSCOW. Jan 8 (Interfax-AVN) - IL-76MF Candid planes may soon make 50 percent of aircraft employed by the Russian military transport aviation, Director General of the Ilyushin aircraft company Viktor Livanov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
Livanov said his conclusion was based on the marketing research done by his company.
"The Russian Air Force needs about 100 aircraft" of the IL- 76MF type, the director said. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear whether mass production of the plane will be launched or whether it will be purchased by the Russian army, even though the aircraft's flight tests were a success.
The Ilyushin company continues developing the IL-76MF program, financing a part of the work out of its own funds. The company has invested about USD25m in design and tests of the IL- 76MF military transport model and its civil-purpose analogue IL- 76TF, Livanov said.
Asked about the possibility to relocate mass production of the IL-76MF from the Uzbek capital of Tashkent to the European Russian city of Voronezh, Livanov said that this issue was in the competence of the Russian president and government. "Establishment of parallel mass production of the IL-76MF/TF at the Voronezh joint-stock aircraft building association will cost USD132m," he said.