Cargo aircraft of Russia: photo, review, specifications

The problem of moving goods from point A to point B can be solved in various ways. The fastest, but also expensive, is the use of aviation. Cargo planes in Russia are used both to meet the needs of the Armed Forces, and in the national economy.

General classification

Cargo is also transported by passenger aircraft, but for them this is a passing task. To solve it as the main one, a whole family of aircraft has been created. There are two large groups of these machines: ramp aircraft and cargo aircraft with a side door. The bulk of the cargo is transported by the second type, the first is used for military purposes and for transportation of non-standard oversized cargo. Photos of various types of cargo aircraft in Russia can be seen in the article.

Side door

With the development of freight transportation, almost all major airports began to possess the necessary handling equipment. Cargo is transported in standard containers. This makes it unnecessary to have the appropriate mechanisms directly on board a cargo plane. Therefore, from an economic point of view, an aircraft with a side door will always be more efficient than a ramp. At least because of the lightweight construction.

Usually these are converted passenger planes or aircraft built on their platform. Such cargo aircraft in Russia are represented by the Il-96-400T, Tu-204S, Il-114T models. Mechanisms can be used to transport containers and standard loads. Unfortunately, there are very few of them in operation.

Russian airlines use mainly Western technology for these purposes. And the reason here is very commonplace. A small number of aircraft in operation objectively leads to poor maintenance. For several flying machines, the creation of a network of warehouses and technical centers is absolutely irrational. Vicious circle.

Ramp

A feature of these machines is autonomy from airport equipment. They are equipped with winches, hoists and other devices that allow the crew to carry out all the necessary loading and unloading operations. Russian military cargo aircraft belong to this type. There are civilian versions of aircraft. Their difference lies in the absence of a number of systems that allow you to perform combat missions. For example, an airborne defense system, sighting systems and several others.

This family of cargo planes in Russia is represented by a fairly wide variety of models, mainly developed at Antonov and Ilyushin Design Bureau. Unlike aircraft with a side door, these machines are in operation both in airlines and as part of the Armed Forces, with the bulk in the army. A lot of them remained in other countries.

Development and production

After the collapse of the USSR, our country was not able to independently produce ramp cargo aircraft. Design capacities were concentrated in Kiev, and production facilities in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, which became independent states. This has seriously complicated the general problem of breaking cooperative ties and the shortage of components, including for machines in operation.

In recent years, Ukraine has completely ceased all cooperation, and Uzbekistan has liquidated its production facilities for the production of cargo aircraft for Russia. Therefore, in 2004 it was decided to organize the production of ramp aircraft of the IL-76 family in our country. Currently, such production has already been organized in Ulyanovsk.

All cargo planes in Russia can be divided into 4 classes depending on their carrying capacity. It is advisable to consider them in more detail.

Heavy aircraft

This type includes the An-124, which has unique characteristics in terms of carrying capacity and flight range, as well as the size of the cargo compartment. It is no secret that it was developed as a strategic transporter capable of crossing the ocean to deliver military cargo. Today, these machines are actively used to support operations in Syria.

Many samples of military equipment in service can only be transported by these aircraft. By the way, they were produced mainly in Russia, and not in Ukraine. The main photo shows this particular airplane.

Heavy aircraft

The largest fleet of Russian cargo aircraft in operation is represented by this type. These are various modifications of the IL-76 aircraft made in Tashkent. They were produced a little less than a thousand, and a significant part of them are still in operation. Recently, deliveries of a modernized version of the IL-76MD-90A aircraft manufactured by Ulyanovsk Aviastar began.

Heavy aircraft include a cargo plane with an IL-96-400T side door, on the basis of which a new wide-body passenger car will be created. Also in this class should be noted the An-22 Antey, which remained in operation, unfortunately, in a single copy.

Medium Aircraft

Medium cargo planes in Russia include vehicles with a carrying capacity of up to 20 tons. Currently, all ramp equipment is represented by virtually one An-12 aircraft. This class also includes a cargo plane developed in Russia - Tu-204S, it is in operation. The development of a new ramp medium cargo aircraft Il-276 is underway. Initially, it was planned as a result of the joint work of Russia and India. However, Indian partners actually abandoned the idea, first freezing the project, and then unofficially closing it.

Although the joint Russian-Indian design team in Moscow throughout the year actively worked on the creation of a conceptual design. The main reason for the Indians to leave the project is the serious discrepancies in the requirements for the aircraft due to differences in climatic and relief features of the two countries.

Light aircraft

Airplanes of this class have a small carrying capacity - up to 10-12 tons, are used to solve tactical problems of transportation over short distances. They are represented by old ramps An-72, An-32, An-26, L-410. As well as new cargo planes in Russia, which are in preparation for production. This is an IL-114T airplane with a side door and a new ramp IL-112V.

Main characteristics

The cargo capacity of Russian cargo aircraft, photos and their main characteristics are summarized in the following table:

Status and Prospects

The combination of the Soviet legacy, the presence of a large number of design bureaus and aircraft factories, the competition between them - all this led to the heterogeneity of the fleet of cargo aircraft. Moreover, each aircraft has several versions or modifications. 4 types of machines of different brands that are in operation and production are distinguished by small unification, which leads to the complexity and high cost of their maintenance.

The production of the entire range of ramp cargo aircraft from super-heavy to light in one country is generally a unique phenomenon. Moreover, there can be no talk of large-scale production, since the main customer is the army, and the state budget is the main source of funds.

In the USA, only heavy and medium airplanes are produced from ramp aviation, in Europe - medium and light ones. In Russia, in addition to the heavy IL-76, the following vehicles are at various stages of preparation:

• light IL-112V;
• medium IL-276;
• super heavy PAK TA.

As for devices with a side door, they are manufactured within the existing capacities for the production of passenger aircraft and are almost completely unified. Especially decommissioned passenger aircraft are often converted into trucks. In Russia, everything is within the framework of global trends. Aircraft with a side door are also being produced or are scheduled for release, as are modifications to passenger aircraft. These are IL-96, Tu-204 and IL-114.