MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force is planning to hold a competition among projects of light military transport planes in April, Viktor Livanov, director general of the Ilyushin aircraft corporation, said on Monday.
The Ilyushin corporation has submitted the project of the IL- 112V aircraft to the competition, Livanov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The corporation is financing development of the predesign out of its own funds. Elaboration of working design documents is underway. Development of such plane for replacement of AN-24T Coke and AN-26 Curl aircraft in Russian military transport aviation unit is written into the Russian armament program for up to 2010, Livanov stressed.
In case the IL-112V wins the competition, its mass production will be launched by the Voronezh joint-stock aircraft production company and involve other enterprises of the industry "in the framework of a broad cooperation," Livanov said. He said the Air Force was working harder on consideration of new aircraft projects - in the past few months it has summed up results of two competition and named SU-49 and YAK-130 as their winners.
The IL-112V is intended for transportation of cargo weighing up to 6t to a distance of up to 6,000km. The potential market for this plane is estimated at 100 to 120 items for the Defense Ministry and 200 items for civilian operators before the year 2010.
According to early data, the IL-112V will be powered by two turbofan engines of the RV7-117S type developing 2,500hp each. The cross-sectional dimension of its fuselage has been increased from 2.2 x 2.4 meters to 2.4 x 2.4 meters to meet requirements of the Air Force. While working on the IL-112V program, the Ilyushin company is successfully introducing the technologies of Continuous Acquisition and Life Support (CALS).
The plane will be distinguished from its analogues for having a higher altitude and width of the cargo compartment. The IL-112V must surpass the AN-26 in the speed and range of flight and as far as possibility to take off from and land on rough terrain and short strips totaling 800 to 1,000 meters. The fuel efficiency of the aircraft will be 2.4 times higher than that of the AN-26.