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Il-212 Transport Aircraft

The situation in the development and production of military transport aircraft developed in a completely unsatisfactory manner. After a whole decade of painful attempts at the Ilyushin design bureau, the project of a medium transport aircraft remained completely virtual. There was practically no progress in the development of the Il-112V light military transport aircraft prior to 2010, the production schedule of which was permanently shifted to the right.

The development of the twin turboprop aircraft, designed to carry six tons of cargo to a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), was canceled in 2011 under former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, but his successor Sergei Shoigu reportedly approved the revival of the Il-112 program in 2013. The Ilyushin Il-112, Russia's brand new light military transport plane, was slated to make its maiden flight in 2017. A prototype of the Il-112V light military transport aircraft made its first flight. The plane took off on 30 March 2019.

The first prototype of the Ilyushin Il-112V Russian military transport plane crashed 17 August 2021 just outside Moscow, killing all three people on board. According to the designer, the power plants were not powerful enough for a heavy transport aircraft. After finding out the reasons for the crash of the Il-112V military transport aircraft in the Moscow region, two more aircraft with numbers 103 and 104 were to be connected to flight tests in 2022. By February 2023, United Aircraft had realigned the management of its Ilyushin division, as it looked to resume flight-testing of the Il-114-300 turboprop.

The Russian Armed Forces are planning to develop the Il-212, a new lightweight military transport aircraft equipped with turbojet engines which will replace the aging An-26 and An-72 models. During a meeting with the leadership of the United Aircraft Corporation, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the decision to replace the An-26 and An-72 with light military transport aircraft. He emphasized that a timetable needed to be agreed for this modernization. The informed source, as reported by Sputnik, explained that this would entail modifying the existing project of the light military transport aircraft, the Il-112B.

"The Il-112B project will undergo significant modifications and receive a new designation, the Il-212. The new aircraft will retain most of the on-board equipment and avionics of its predecessor, as well as the overall fuselage structure. However, it will be powered by PD-8 turbojet engines instead of TV-117C turboprop engines. As a result, the aircraft's wing and landing gear will be modified, and new fuel and hydraulic systems will be installed," the source said.

The source clarified that the PD-8 turbojet engines for the Il-212 would be mounted above the wings, similar to the An-72, to enable the new aircraft to operate from improvised runways and unpaved airstrips. The high-mounted engine air intakes would virtually eliminate the risk of ingesting debris and objects from the ground. The source added that range, payload and cargo cabin dimensions are still under development, but it is certain that the new aircraft will have a higher payload thanks to its more powerful engines.

In June 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov announced at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2023 that the Il-112B military transport project would be modified, focusing on the wing and engines. Later, a source told Sputnik that the Il-112B would be adapted for PD-8 turbojet engines.

According to open aviation sources specializing in military aircraft, there are more than 110 An-26s and about 30 An-72s in the Russian Aerospace Forces, making a total of over 140 aircraft. In 2021, the Russian Aerospace Forces estimated the need for 200 new light military transport aircraft (then designated as the Il-112B). Therefore, about 150 to 200 of the Il-212s could now be needed by the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The earlier developed Il-112B was designed to transport and airdrop personnel, weapons, light equipment and other cargo weighing up to 5 tons. The cruising speed of the Il-112B with turboprop engines was 470 kilometers per hour, and its maximum range when loaded was about 1,200 kilometers.