MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax-AVN) - A Defense Ministry commission has issued a permission for fitting IL-76MD Candid military-transport plane with a new-generation engine codenamed PS-90A-76.
"The PS-90A-76 engine has passed state tests in the framework of the military program. Now we have a full legal right to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry and install the engine in IL-76MD-90 military transport planes and in IL-76MF new- generation planes under construction," Genrikh Novozhilov, constructor general of the Ilyushin aircraft corporation, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
IL-76MD military transports, currently fitted with D-30KP engines developing 12 tonnes, will be powered with fourth- generation PS-90A-76 engines developing 14.5 tonnes in the take- off mode, he said. Engine replacement is already in progress at the Voronezh aircraft production association, he stressed.
"This is one of our most promising projects," Novozhilov noted.
According to him, installation of new PS-90A-76 engines will considerably extend service life of IL-76MD-90 planes and make them more economic than the aircraft currently in operation.
"As a result of engine replacement, the IL-76MD's payload will grow from 50 to 60 tonnes, and flight range will reach 4,530km with a maximum takeoff weight of 3,730kg," Novozhilov stressed.
He said that the upgraded IL-76MD-90 will meet all international noise and emission requirements of ICAO Chapter Four that are to be imposed in 2006. According to experts, the new PS-90A-76 engines are three times easier to service and 1.7 times cheaper in operation.
Experts praise enhanced reliability of the upgraded IL-76TD. The new PS-90A-76 engine is capable of localizing destruction caused by rotor blade break. Moreover, its rotor wheel can be replaced right in military units.