Ilyushin Il-106 PAK VTA


The Ilyushin Il-106 Slon (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-106 Слон, lit. 'Elephant') is a Russian next-generation heavy military transport aircraft, currently under development by Ilyushin within the PAK VTA programme (Russian: ПАК ВТА, short for: Перспективный авиационный комплекс Военно-транспортной авиации, romanized: Perspektivnyy aviatsionnyy kompleks Voyenno-transportnoy aviatsii, lit. ''Prospective Aviation Complex of Military Transport Aviation'').[2] Not to be confused with the cancelled Ilyushin Il-106 of the nineties.

"Il-106" redirects here. For the road, see Illinois Route 106.
PAK VTA
Role Heavy transport aircraft
National origin Russia
Manufacturer Ilyushin
First flight 2024–2026[1]
Status Under development
Primary user Russian Air Force
Developed from Ilyushin Il-106

Development

The project was initially presented under PAK TA designation with goal to develop a blended wing body,[3] super-heavy transport plane being able to fly at supersonic speed while carrying up to 200 tons of cargo, and partially using renewable electric energy. 80 aircraft were planned to be built by 2024.[4] However, this ambitious concept was not pursued and the project's requirements have been scaled down.[5][6]

In 2016, General Director of Ilyushin Company Sergei Velmozhkin reported the project was officially named Il-106, designation previously applied to a cancelled Ilyushin transport plane of the 1990s.[7]

In December 2018, Russian Defence Ministry announced the aircraft would be a deeply updated version of the cancelled Ilyushin Il-106 transport aircraft.[1] According to Chief Designer of Ilyushin Company Nikolai Talikov, Il-106 is currently deep in development and will be updated with new avionics, engines, and other critical systems.[8]

However, on 5 November 2019, Russia's Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) released pictures of a wind tunnel Il-106 model, showing that, contrarily to what was previously thought, the design of the new cargo plane is not based on the Il-106 project of the 1990s.[9][10] On 26 March 2020, TsAGI released new pictures of a wind tunnel model, indicating that the researchers of the Institute had completed the first cycle of aerodynamic testing of the model.[11] The obtained results confirmed the calculated characteristics laid down at the stage of preliminary studies.

In May 2019, Ilyushin has finished R&D works on the aircraft and contract for further development has been signed.[12][13] If the PAK VTA design is approved by the Russian authorities, Ilyushin hopes to start the development of the first prototype in 2020, for a serial production before 2027.[14] The first flight is scheduled for 2024-2026.[1][8] [13][15]

On 4 August 2020, Izvestia reported that the Russian Ministry of Defence approved the tactical and technical requirements of the PAK VTA. The PAK VTA research phase was set to end in December 2020, with the experimental development work on the aircraft to begin in 2021.[15]

Characteristics

According to the approved requirements, the new military transport aircraft should be able to refuel in the air and carry no less than 80 tons of cargo at a distance of 5000 kilometers. The length of the cargo compartment of the aircraft would need to be at least 27.5 meters, with a width of 5.8 meters, and a height of 4.4 meters.[16]

PAK VTA should be powered by four Aviadvigatel PD-35 turbofans - an improved derivative of the still-in-development PD-14 engine, with a thrust of 20-25 thousand kgf. The flight altitude of the aircraft should be up to 12 thousand meters, with a cruising speed of 850 km/h.[15][13]

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
  1. Rogoway, Tyler (29 December 2018). "Russia Wants To Replace Its Giant An-124 Airlifters With Updated Decades-Old Design". The Drive. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. "Pak Vta".
  3. https://www.deagel.com/Support%20Aircraft/PAK%20TA/a003141
  4. "Look At This Ridiculous Russian Supersonic Cargo Plane Concept". popsci.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  5. https://www.deagel.com/Support%20Aircraft/PAK%20TA/a003141
  6. "Russia reportedly decides on new military freighter design".
  7. Trimble, Stephen (8 September 2016). "Russia widens scope for future large military transport project". Flight Global. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  8. Ruslan Melnikov. Russia will replace the legendary Ruslan with a new airlifter. RG.ru, 29 December 2018 (in Russian)
  9. "В ЦАГИ изготовлена аэродинамическая модель большегрузного транспортного самолета "Слон"". Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. Rogoway, Tyler (5 November 2019). "Russia Shows Wind Tunnel Model Of An "Elephant" Airlifter Replacement For The An-124". The Drive. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. "В ЦАГИ прошли испытания модели самолета «Слон» - Новости - Пресс-центр - ЦАГИ".
  12. "Ilyushin Aviation Complex signs contract for development of heavy cargo aircraft". airrecogniton.com. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. Roman Barskiy. Ilyushin's heavy military cargo aircraft will replace An-124 Ruslan. Nauka i Tehnika, 8 May 2019 (in Russian)
  14. "Article réservé aux abonnés – Meta-Defense.fr".
  15. Anton Lavrov, Roman Kretsul. High-flying cargo aircraft. Russia prepares to replace An-22 and An-124. IZ.ru, August 4, 2020 (in Russian)
  16. "Russia reportedly decides on new military freighter design".
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