Chandigarh, March 24
The IL-76 heavy lift aircraft in the IAF service are to be retrofitted with an advanced avionics package which will remove certain restrictions imposed upon them on international air routes and certain domestic routes. The upgradation will be done in Russia.
Sources reveal that the IL-76 aircraft are to be fitted with a Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) suite. This is a mandatory requirement if aircraft are to fly above 29,000 feet. The suite will be retrofitted when the aircraft are sent to Russia for major overhaul.
"A number of IL-76 aircraft are due for major overhaul," an officer said "The Ministry of Defence is finalising the matter with Russian firms," he added. The last time an IL-76 returned from Russia after major overhaul was in 2003.
IAF officers said the vertical separation between two aircraft flying above 29,000 feet had been reduced from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet by the international aviation consortium to cater to the high density of air traffic. For this, it is mandatory for aircraft to be equipped with the RVSM suite. The suite is highly accurate and gives a warning for every 300 feet change in altitude.
Though the new generation civilian aircraft being operated by Indian commercial operators are equipped with the RVSM suite, no IAF transport aircraft is equipped to fly above 29,000 feet as per international norms. Even the IAF's latest acquisition, the IL-78 aerial refullers, are without this equipment.
Restriction to attitudes below 30,000 feet results in consumption of more fuel, lesser true airspeed and longer flying time. Sources said even when the IAF contingent went to Alaska for multinational exercises, they were flying at 28,000 feet. As a result, officers estimated that the aircraft's efficiency was about 20 per cent lower that what would have been at an higher altitude.
The overhaul cycle for one IL-76 takes about six to eight months. Given the significant size of the IAF's IL-76/78 fleet and the time consumed, it could be some years before the complete fleet is equipped with the RVSM suite.
The monochrome weather radar of the IL-76 are being replaced with colour weather radar. Officers said the new radar would be indigenous. Recently, a few IL-76 aircraft in the IAF were also equipped with the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCASS). Though the IAF had formulated a policy a few years ago to equip all transport aircraft with the TCASS system, little progress has been made so far.
The IAF's AN-32 fleet was also to be equipped with the TCASS, but so far there is no indication as to when the project will be initiated. Meanwhile, all AN-32s have been equipped with the Global Positioning System.
