Ilyushin Il-76T and Il-76TD
The unarmed civil freighters — Aeroflot's heavy lifters and, re-engined, Volga-Dnepr's outsize-cargo fleet · First flight 1978 · Il-76TD 1982
The Il-76T (NATO 'Candid-A') is the civil transport version of the Il-76M, first flown on 4 November 1978. The tail cannon turret, chaff dispensers, paratroop equipment and military electronics were removed. It was followed by the Il-76TD, the civil counterpart of the long-range Il-76MD, which first flew on 5 May 1982 with a 50-tonne payload, a 190-tonne maximum take-off weight and a range of 3,600 km at full load.
Aeroflot flew large numbers of Il-76s in the Soviet era, from routine freight to relief flights such as the airlift after the Armenian earthquake of December 1988. The Il-76TD 'Antarktida', first flown on 17 November 1985, added navigation equipment and markings for polar work. After 1991 hundreds of aircraft passed to new cargo airlines in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and Africa.
From 2004 several commercial Il-76TDs were re-engined with the Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 to meet European noise rules. The Il-76TD-90VD, developed for Volga-Dnepr, also has a partly glass cockpit and meets ICAO Chapter 4 noise limits; Volga-Dnepr operated five in 2021, and Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines ordered a similar version, the Il-76TD-90SW.
