Ilyushin Il-76MD
The long-range military standard: stronger airframe and landing gear, 48 t payload and 190 t take-off weight · First flight 1981 · Built at Tashkent
The Il-76MD (NATO 'Candid-B') is a modified, long-range development of the Il-76M, first flown on 6 March 1981. A strengthened airframe and landing gear raised the payload to 48 tonnes and the maximum take-off weight to 190 tonnes, and range with a 40-tonne load grew to 4,200 km. The aircraft can operate away from its home base for up to two months, and four extra underwing pylons can carry bombs or radio beacons.
The MD became the standard Soviet military transport and the basis for many special versions, from the Skalpel flying hospital and the Il-76MDK weightlessness trainer for cosmonauts to the Il-78 tanker and the A-50 airborne early-warning aircraft. When the Soviet Union broke up, the fleet was divided among Russia, Ukraine and the other successor states. India operates 17 Il-76MDs, and China bought the type for the PLAAF in several batches.
From 1979 to 1991 Soviet Il-76s made 14,700 flights into Afghanistan, carrying 89% of the troops and 74% of the freight airlifted there. Under the Il-76MD-M modernisation, first flown on 28 February 2016, Russian aircraft have had their service life extended to 40 years.
