A first: IAF asks Indian firm to repair IL-76

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, July 6

In a first, the Air Force has approached an Indian firm to undertake major repairs on the Russian origin IL-76 heavy lift aircraft. While routine maintenance of the IL fleet was undertaken by the IAF, major repairs and overhaul were done by Russia.

Two IL-76 aircraft suffered heavy damage to their undercarriage and associated airframe structure, for which on site repairs are to be carried out at the Chandigarh airbase, according to IAF sources.

The selected industrial partner will be required to carry out an assessment of the work to be undertaken and get the proposed work process ratified by Indian authorities such as the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification. The partner will be allowed to transport the affected components outside the airbase for repair if the need so arises.

The move to involve the Indian industry for the project comes in the backdrop of the IAF already approaching Russia to examine the feasibility of extending the technical life of the ageing IL-76 fleet that has been in service for almost 40 years.

The IAF has sought a review of the ‘time between overhaul’ and ‘total technical life’ of 11 IL-76MD aircraft. The exercise will also be carried out at Chandigarh, where the IL-76 fleet is primarily based with No. 44 Squadron. IAF sources said that the proposed upgrading programme would enable the fleet to continue up to the year 2050 from the current stipulated time frame of 2035, besides the possibility of replacing the existing D-30KP engines with the more efficient PS-90a engines and incorporating contemporary avionics suites and control systems.