MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax-AVN) - A preliminary conclusion on the possibility of serial production of the IL-76MF Candid military cargo aircraft will come late April to early May, Viktor Livanov, Ilyushin Aircraft Corporation CEO, told Interfax- Military News Agency Tuesday.
"There are few flights to carry out till the end of the joint state trials program to receive a preliminary conclusion. I think this will be done before May," he said.
He clarified that the joint state trials would go further after the preliminary conclusion was received.
He would not elaborate on the terms for the trials program and for the aircraft's entering the inventory on the grounds that "the termination of the trials and the beginning of the serial production severely depend on the funding by the Defense Ministry."
He recalled that the aircraft had taken to the air in August 1995.
"To date the first experimental modernized IL-76MF has accomplished about 1,500 flights," he said.
Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov also sees good prospects for the aircraft.
"The aircraft has accumulated the best features of the family. Many parameters of the IL-76MF are twice as good as those of the AN-70," another military cargo aircraft project developed together by Russia and Ukraine, he told reporters in the Air Force Staff late last week.
According to the commander, he has sent a team of test pilots and engineers to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to participate in the trials of the IL-76MF.
Russian experts are assigned to perform all flights that can give information necessary for a preliminary conclusion for the production, he said.
"After these trials come to an end, we will launch the production at the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association," he added.
He also said that two IL-76MDs, another aircraft in the Candid family, had been sent to Voronezh for the preparation for production.
The IL-76MF military cargo aircraft designed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau has been made by the Chkalov Aircraft Production Association in Tashkent. It has a longer fuselage than the classic Candid by 6m, its commercial load has risen to 60t, and it has better flight performances, since the four 12-t D-30KP engines were replaced by four 16-t PS-90A-76s.
Experts say Russia needs about 100 aircraft of the make.