Transport aircraft STS 21 or IL 214. Why did India prefer the Ukrainian AN-178 (which already exists) to the Russian IL-214 (which does not exist)
The Il-214 aircraft, which has the second name MTS (multi-purpose transport aircraft), is a military transport tactical aircraft, which is currently being developed by companies: NPK Irkut, Ilyushin Aviation Complex and the Indian corporation HAL. There are plans to replace the An-72, An-26 and An-12 aircraft in the Russian Air Force and An-32 in the Indian Air Force with this aircraft. The beginning of cooperation in the design and development of the Il-214 dates back to 06/06/2007, when a tripartite agreement was signed.
An agreement was concluded between the governments of India and Russia, according to which the shares of the joint venture were divided by 50%, and the headquarters was in New Delhi.
The production of the aircraft was planned to be deployed in India and Russia. There is a decision to build 205 MTS, a third of which are going to be exported to other countries.
The cargo compartment of the aircraft has the same dimensions as the Il-76MD. According to the design calculations, the Il-214 will be able to transport up to 80% of all Russian military equipment, while the transportation costs will be significantly lower.
The aircraft can transport cargo weighing 12 tons over a distance of up to 3,700 km or 20 tons - over 2,000 km, and can also be used as a landing option for 90 people.
The Il-214 aircraft is included in the State Program for the Development of Military Aviation until 2015. It is planned to purchase 5 aircraft. The cost of one Il-214 aircraft is estimated at $35-50 million, $600 million was involved in the aircraft development program. If all plans are met, the machine can take to the air as early as 2017. According to reliable sources, Russia has an order for 100 Il-214 aircraft, India - for 45 aircraft. Already these figures are enough to reach the break-even level of production. The total production potential of this model is estimated at 390 units, taking into account the requests of civil aviation.
IL-214 characteristics:
Crew: 2 pilots
Load capacity: 20 t
Length: 37.7 m
Wingspan: 32.25 m
Height: 11.0 m
Maximum takeoff weight: 68 t
Mass of fuel in internal tanks: 23,000 kg
Power plant: 2 × PD-14M
Thrust: 2 × 15 600 kgf
Flight characteristics
Maximum speed: 870 km/h
Cruise speed: 800 km/h
Practical range: 2,500 km (with maximum load)
Practical ceiling: 12,000 m
Takeoff run: 1,450 m
Run length: 1 350 m
photo clickable
India has long wanted to get a medium-lift aircraft for its military transport aviation. And not only to receive, but also in accordance with the national strategy "Made in India" to establish its production on a par with the country that developed the transporter. For quite a long time, Russia harbored the illusion that the Ilyushin Design Bureau would be chosen in New Delhi in accordance with a long-standing partnership. However, the wind has changed. India has decided that the plane will be Ukrainian.
Ukrainian state corporation Antonov and Indian company Reliance Defense Ltd. signed an agreement of intent to jointly develop and produce a multifunctional medium-lift transport aircraft. The project is long term. Within 15 years, 500 aircraft are to be built at a cost of $5.3 billion. Moreover, the machine must be multifunctional. In the BTA, the aircraft must carry cargo weighing up to 20 tons and participate in landing operations. In the civil aviation of India - to take on board from 50 to 80 passengers.
The proportions of production are as follows: 200 aircraft for the BTA of India, 300 for civil aviation.
The Indians make strict demands on the aircraft. It must take off from shortened and unprepared runways and be operated at any time of the day in any weather conditions.
In connection with this agreement, information began to appear that the agreement with Russia (more precisely, with the Ilyushin Design Bureau) on the joint creation of a similar aircraft was terminated. This is wrong. More precisely, not quite so. The treaty may indeed be rejected by India if our aircraft manufacturers do not change their strategy.
The fact is that the Ukrainian transport worker is not an alternative to the Russian one. Two projects can develop in parallel. We are talking about the Il-214 aircraft, the development of which began in 2000. In 2007, India signed an agreement of intent to take part in a joint project called MTA (Multirole Transport Aircraft - multi-purpose transport aircraft). In 2010, a new agreement was signed to establish a joint venture based on the Indian defense corporation HAL. As a result of the project, India was to receive 45 aircraft, Russia - 100.
This year the contract was frozen. Although the joint venture already exists, legally. And this is quite natural. Because there is still no IL-214. There is not only its prototype, but also normal working documentation.
The creation of the MTA is not some extremely difficult task for the Ilyushens. They explain the monstrously slow progress of development in two ways. The first, of course, on duty and universal - lack of funds. And here they are pinning their hopes that the military department will “really” be interested in the aircraft, which will begin to actively finance its creation.
The second reason is international. OKB Ilyushin assumed that the Tashkent aircraft plant named after. Chkalov will become part of the United Aircraft Corporation, and it will launch the production of the latest Il-76MD-90A. However, in 2008 Uzbekistan terminated the agreement. And the Ilyushin Design Bureau had to transfer the production of Il-76 from Tashkent to Ulyanovsk.
But, be that as it may, we had a very complacent mood regarding the joint project with the Indians: they will not go anywhere, they will wait. Because the BTA of India operates not only obsolete, but also “low-powered” An-32s, capable of lifting no more than 7 tons into the air. And they need to be changed to modern and more powerful machines.
Meanwhile, the Antonovites, having already a flying prototype of a transport aircraft, were pursuing an active marketing policy. During the exhibition Defexpo India 2016, the Ukrainian delegation held eight (!) negotiations with the Minister of Defense of India and the high command of the country's armed forces. As a result, the Indians liked the Ukrainian proposal.
Actually, it couldn't have happened otherwise. Firstly, Antonov Design Bureau is a company with a worldwide reputation. As for the difficulties that arose on it under the "new regime", the Design Bureau will for quite a long time maintain the brand due to old backlogs and the old design guard.
Secondly, there will be no need to retrain pilots and maintenance personnel, since the old Antonov - An-32 - is being replaced with a new one.
Thirdly, there is no fundamental difference between the IL-214 and An-178. Aircraft have similar characteristics. Load capacity of 20 tons each. Cruising speed is approximately 800 km/h. Ceiling of 12000 meters.
However, the ferry range of the Il-214 is almost 2000 km longer and is 7300 km. And the engines (there are two of them) have a significantly greater thrust - 17400 kgf versus 8600 kgf.
An important characteristic is cost. For a "Russian" it is expected to be at the level of 35-40 million dollars, for a "Ukrainian" - 40-70 million.
True, it is not clear how the An-178 has with the requirements for the length and quality of the runway - for some reason the Antonovites keep these data a secret. But we can assume that everything is fine here, since at one time they taught even such giants as Antey and Ruslan to land on unpaved strips. True, the Il-214 has a somewhat shorter takeoff and landing due to stronger engines.
Each of the design bureaus boasts of the ability to transport bulky cargo. OKB Ilyushin claims that the dimensions of the cargo compartment are the same as those of the Il-96 - 321 cubic meters. That allows you to transport 80% of the types of cargo used by the army. The Antonov Design Bureau keeps specific numbers a secret. Even the take-off weight of the aircraft is not given.
In this connection, all sorts of investigations are being carried out on the forums of BTA fans. Figures are given that were secretly told by former colleagues from Kyiv and the results of other people's intelligence activities. However, they are even more controversial than the Ukrainian government's statements about the state of its own armed forces.
Regarding the Ukrainian development, one can also say that an error in the alignment of the aircraft was made during the design of the prototype. In this connection, he flies with a ton and a half ballast. However, for Ukrainian designers, whose older brothers created unique transport vehicles, this is not a serious problem. The serial aircraft will fly as expected.
But the inactivity of the Ilyushin Design Bureau is depressing. And not so much because the joint project with India may fail. Against the backdrop of victorious reports about the creation of a truly excellent Il-76MD-90A heavy truck, they completely forgot that all types of aircraft should work in the VTA. That heavy aircraft are not able to solve the whole range of tasks assigned to transport aviation.
And the situation with light and medium-class transport aircraft is rather sad. All of them are developments of the Antonov Design Bureau, and all have been in operation since time immemorial. This is the An-12 turboprop, which should be replaced by the Il-214. There are 53 such aircraft in operation. Turboprop An-26 (28 pcs.) True, the jet An-72 (37 pcs.) Is newer - it has been produced in Kyiv since 1982.
All these aircraft must be changed to domestic ones. How is it done in the segment of heavy transporters, where the IL-76 is replacing the Ruslan. Because there may be problems with spare parts (of which the "oldies" need more and more), and with certification. Anything can be expected from a country that periodically breaks off diplomatic relations with Russia.
However, the Il-214 development schedule is constantly shifting along the time axis. According to the original plans, these aircraft were supposed to work in the BTA for three years. Now the first flight is scheduled for next year, and the adoption for service - for 2019. However, this is hard to believe. One gets the feeling that the Ilyushins are developing a fifth-generation strategic bomber.
Vladimir Tuchkov
Having launched the modernized heavy Il-76MD-90A into the series, having entered the assembly stage of the first flight Il-112V, the Il company returned to the project of a medium military transport aircraft (SVTS) with a payload in the region of 20-25 tons. This project has changed its name several times. Back in the 1990s, developments began on the machine in this dimension under the Il-214 index. Then, in the 2000s, a joint Russian-Indian project of a multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) was created, called Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA) in India. However, for reasons beyond Ilyushin's control, India has so far suspended participation in this program.
“Then there were a lot of specific requirements - high-altitude airfields in the mountains up to 5 kilometers, heat, plus they were going to put some extraordinary amount of weapons on it, including bombs and cannons,” says Olga Kruglyakova. – They wanted it to be a shock, shoot, bomb, refuel and refuel, and even carry cargo. We tried to convince them that with so many tasks, you can only make an aircraft that will perform all these functions poorly.”
Now the Russian military space forces are returning to the idea of creating an aircraft in this dimension. “They need a plane instead of the aging An-12,” says Kruglyakova. – We decided to launch a full-scale R&D in 2017. The terms of reference are almost completely signed. For us, this plane will be easier than with the Indians. If we take the Russian terms of reference, then everything is much more thoughtful there.”
One of the problems of the former MTS / MTA project was the main power plant. For such special requirements put forward by the Indian side, it was necessary to install the PS-90 engine on the aircraft. However, this engine with a thrust of 16 tons was clearly more than the needs of a machine designed for a 20-ton transport load. Without specific Indian requirements, the PD-14 engine, which is currently being created at the United Engine Corporation (part of the Rostec state corporation) for the MS-21 passenger aircraft, is quite suitable for the current SVTS. As the first stage, Ilyushin proposes a variant with the PS-90.
“For starters, we proposed to carry out blowdowns of a complete model of an aircraft with PS-90 and PD-14 engines - they have nacelles of different diameters,” says Olga Kruglyakova. - If in 2017 a full-fledged R&D on SVTS is launched, it will begin with a draft design of the aircraft. But you can't reach it without blowing the full model. Therefore, the idea was proposed to start blowdowns at a faster pace.”
In addition, Il proposes to install a three-channel electric remote control system on the SVTS: one channel is the main one, the second is a simplified one, and the third is a backup one. Thanks to this, it will be possible to provide a six-fold redundancy of the system.
A long break in the development of new transport aircraft has become one of the main reasons for the critical state of the domestic military transport aviation (VTA) fleet. And if in the class of heavy vehicles the Soviet Il-76 should be replaced in the near future by its modernized version, launched into series in Ulyanovsk, then in the middle weight category Russia has not yet found a replacement for the veteran An-12.
Mistaken sensation
On August 16, 2014, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Mikhail Pogosyan made a number of statements, one of which could rightfully be called sensational. Some media broadcast the words of the head of the UAC in this way: "The Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company and Indian aircraft manufacturers are beginning the design development of a multi-purpose transport aircraft (MTS)."
“We are at the stage of discussing the further implementation of the program and the transition to design development,” said Mikhail Poghosyan. When checking the news, it was possible to find out that the “sensational” message turned out to be just a mistake by the journalists of RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS, who subsequently corrected their messages. The contract for the design and construction of a multi-purpose transport aircraft from Russia remains in the hands of the Ilyushin Aviation Complex. However, the failed sensation gives a good reason to talk about the current state of the medium transport aircraft program, which is urgently needed by both the BTA and civilian users.
The main aircraft of this class in the CIS is still the An-12, which made its first flight back in 1957. In particular, the RF Air Force alone currently operates about 60 aircraft of this type in various versions. They are also part of the aviation of the Russian Navy. Several dozen aircraft are used by other government agencies and airlines. Taking into account that all of them were built in the mid-60s - early 70s of the last century (the production of An-12 in the USSR was completed in 1973), the need for their prompt replacement is the most important task for the Russian aviation industry.
A similar task, albeit not so acute, is currently facing Western aircraft manufacturers. C-130 Hercules - the legendary military transport aircraft (MTA) developed by the American company Lockheed Martin, in August 2014 will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the first flight. Despite the fact that the serial production and modernization of these aircraft is still ongoing, there is an understanding that the aircraft is outdated and needs to be replaced.
origins
Thinking about the need for a new medium military-technical cooperation began in the USSR in the late 70s. Initially, there was an idea to follow the path of Lockheed and resume production of the An-12, having previously upgraded it, but in the end this idea was abandoned, and in 1986, when the requirements of the USSR Air Force for promising aircraft were approved, the choice fell on Antonov Design Bureau with his An-70 project. However, during the implementation of the project, the aircraft actually moved into the class of heavy military-technical cooperation, and with the collapse of the USSR, the An-70 program slowed down, and the Russian Air Force was left without a new medium military transport aircraft.
The next possible option was the development of Tupolev: in the first half of the 90s, the largest Soviet design bureau developed the Russian Cargo Aircraft program, in the lineup of which the Tu-330 medium military-technical cooperation, unified in many design elements with the Tu-330, was to be designed and built. -204/214. On April 23, 1994, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 369 "On the creation of a medium transport aircraft Tu-330" was issued. The Decree provided for the production of the lead batch of 10 Tu-330 aircraft by 1998 at the Kazan Aviation Production Association named after Gorbunov (KAPO) with the participation of the Samara Aviation Production Association.
The appendix also indicated the main characteristics of the future aircraft: a maximum payload of 35 tons, a flight range with a load of 30 tons of at least 3000 km. The power plants were to be adapted Perm PS-90A engines. Apparently, in pursuance of this government decree, the Tupolev ASTC developed design documentation and even transferred it to KAPO. However, the economic situation of the 90s did not allow the implementation of this project, and the Tu-330 remained a "paper" aircraft.
In the early 2000s, as the economic situation improved, the issue of a new military-technical cooperation returned again. This time, the Ilyushin Aviation Complex decided to approach the projectile.
Path to MTS
The history of the creation of a multi-purpose transport aircraft (MTS) by the Ilyushin Design Bureau does not contain a lot of technical and production documents, but it is replete with all kinds of protocols and interstate agreements, as well as loud statements by the leaders of the Russian aviation industry over the past 15 years.
By the beginning of the 2000s, the Ilyushin Design Bureau did not approach in the best possible way. At the Tashkent Aviation Production Association named after Chkalov, a leisurely small-scale production of the Il-114 regional turboprop aircraft was going on. In addition, the development of a modification of the Il-76MF heavy transport aircraft continued. Basically, the legendary design bureau in the past dealt with the issues of maintaining the airworthiness of the military-technical cooperation of the Il-76TD/MD.
The program to create a new medium military transport aircraft, in fact, was the last chance for the Ilyushin Aviation Complex not to sink into oblivion.
The creation of a new machine required the search for partners who were ready to enter the project primarily with financial resources. The Indians became interested in the aircraft project, who needed a promising replacement for their An-32. On May 4, 2000, the Vozdushny transport newspaper reported that “In early April of this year, AK Ilyushin began negotiations with Indian specialists on the joint creation of the Il-214T transport aircraft. To date, work on the Il-214T aircraft project is at the pre-draft stage and is associated with the development of technical proposals.”
And the first protocol on the start of the joint development of a new transport aircraft was signed on June 6, 2001.
In the next thirteen years, it will be signed and announced, however, real design work on the Ilyushin multi-purpose transport aircraft will begin only in 2012.
I must say that over the first decade of the new century, the Ilyushin Aviation Complex was able to demonstrate both the ability to digitize and transfer production to a new site of its own aircraft forty years ago, and the ability to fail the Il-112V light tactical military-technical cooperation project (last year it celebrated its twentieth anniversary) , following which in May 2011 the Ministry of Defense decided to purchase seven An-140 aircraft manufactured by the Aviakor plant.
On May 28, 2012, in Bangalore, India, UAC-Transport Aircraft (UAC-TS), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and their joint venture Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd (MTAL) signed a general contract for the design of a multi-purpose transport aircraft (MTA), and already on October 12, 2012, a contract was signed in Delhi for the first stage of MTA development between the same three parties: MTAL was the customer, and HAL and UAC-TS were the contractors. The price of the contract was 600 million dollars, each of the parties must invest 50 percent of the amount.
As stated, control over the fulfillment of the requirements for the aircraft at all stages will be carried out by representatives of the ministries of defense of both countries. In 2013, work was carried out jointly with HAL specialists on the preliminary design of the aircraft, which was completed in October 2013 and presented to the Russian and Indian Air Forces.
Il and An
The new medium military-technical cooperation will be made according to the scheme of a high-wing aircraft with a T-tail. The maximum takeoff weight is expected to be 68 tons, and the estimated maximum payload is 20 tons, which it will be able to transport 2000 km. The main interest is the size of the cargo compartment. The specification contains an indication that the cockpit is unified in size and design with the Il-76MD, which is rather not an advantage of the aircraft, but a forced decision, apparently arising from the developer's doubts about his ability to design the aircraft, and especially the ramp, from scratch.
The result of this approach is that with a nominal height of the cargo compartment of 3.4 meters, the useful height is limited by the bend of the fuselage, crane beams and hoists to a range of 2500 to 2750 millimeters. Thus, in the general case, the aircraft will carry about a meter of empty space, which, of course, does not speak well of its design. The width of the cabin will be 3.45 meters, length - 13.8 meters, which will allow loading four UAK-5 universal aviation containers into it, that is, exactly as much as in the An-12.
There is no information yet on the possibility of loading two twenty-foot containers that match in height, width and overall length, it will depend on what the characteristics of the cargo ramp and loading equipment of the aircraft will eventually turn out to be.
In addition, the aircraft is designed to carry up to 140 military personnel or 90 paratroopers.
As for the power plant, there is apparently no agreement yet. The Ilyushin Aviation Complex, judging by the information on the official website, quite realistically declares two PS-90A-76s. However, the more progressive United Aircraft Corporation believes that the MTS project will be equipped with PD-14M engines that do not yet exist. Considering that the first flight was announced on the official website of UAC-TS for 2016, the availability of the PD-14M by that time can be assessed as extreme optimism on the part of the company's management.
More or less realistic dates for the program were announced at the opening of the DefExpo-2014 exhibition in February 2014. In particular, it was stated that in 2018-2019 it is planned to produce the first prototype of the aircraft, in 2019 - the second prototype, and from 2020 it is planned to start mass production of the aircraft.
A certain interest for comparison in terms of the timing and cost of the program is the project of the Ukrainian state enterprise "Antonov" - An-178. The An-178 medium military-technical cooperation project grew out of the original An-148T-100 concept, which was supposed to have a specially designed wide-section fuselage.
However, apparently in order to simplify and reduce the cost of the aircraft, Antonov Design Bureau went by docking the fuselage of the extended version of the An-148 - An-158 and the newly developed rear part with a ramp. The uniqueness of the project for the post-Soviet space lies in the fact that only four years have passed from the moment the announcement of the start of development in 2010 to the roll-out of the assembled fuselage. The assembly of the first prototype should be completed by the end of 2014.
It is curious that despite such a "budget" approach to the development of a new military-technical cooperation, the cargo compartment of the An-178, apparently, turned out to be able to accommodate cargo that is not inferior in size to the declared Ilyushin. Having a round fuselage with a useful height of 2750 mm, the An-178, according to the official statements of the manufacturer, is designed to load two twenty-foot IATA M2 containers.
Meanwhile in Brazil
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, foreign aircraft manufacturers are also preparing a replacement for the obsolete medium military-technical cooperation.
In 2006, the Brazilian company Embraer, which specializes in light training and combat aircraft and short-range airliners, unexpectedly began to work on the concept of a medium military transport aircraft. In 2007, Embraer officially announced its intention to develop and build a medium military transport aircraft with the conditional index C-390.
It is interesting to note that Embraer, being a commercial company whose goal is to make a profit, began designing a completely new type for itself not under government orders, but after a comprehensive study of the market and an assessment of the prospects for sales of the future aircraft. Embraer's assessment showed that in the next ten years about 700 medium military transport aircraft of the C-130 type will be decommissioned around the world, which will require replacement, and, thus, a market niche is opening up that can be captured in time, subject to accelerated development and launch in a series of new aircraft.
In March 2008, the Brazilian government agreed to invest $33 million in the project, which was eventually named KS-390. At the same time, the Brazilian Air Force signed a contract for the purchase of up to 30 aircraft of this type.
And then orders fell like a cornucopia. In 2010, the Portuguese Ministry of Defense announced a desire to replace their C-130s with the KC-390, as well as to take part in the development program for a new aircraft. Chile, Colombia and Argentina have also expressed their interest.
In June 2012, Boeing joins this project, an agreement is signed under which the American corporation provides the Brazilians with a number of technologies, and will also facilitate the launch of the KC-390 on the market of those countries that plan to replace obsolete C-130 Hercules aircraft. Just like the C-130 it is to replace, the KC-390 will have to perform a variety of tasks, including the role of tanker, platform for airborne early warning aircraft, electronic warfare, etc.
Despite the fact that the promising Brazilian military-technical cooperation has a length of 7 meters, and a wingspan of 4 meters less than the Il-214 / MTS, the declared carrying capacity was almost 24 tons, which it is able to transport to a distance of 2593 km, and 13.5 tons KS-390 must transport at a distance of at least 4800 km. At the same time, the length of the cargo compartment reaches almost 18 meters against 14 for the Il-214. Such a gap in the declared characteristics is due to the design of the Brazilian aircraft from scratch, and as a result, the great weight perfection of its design, in contrast to the MTS, which is based on the elements of the Il-76MD design.
The first flight of the KS-390 prototype is scheduled for the end of 2014, and, knowing Embraer's discipline in meeting deadlines, there is no doubt that the delivery of the aircraft to the Brazilian Air Force, scheduled for 2016, will not be greatly shifted.
In 2020, it is planned to start mass production of a domestic multi-purpose transport aircraft. In the same year, the IL-214/MTS program will be exactly 20 years old since its inception. With the continuation of such a thoughtful and unhurried design of the MTS, the Russian aviation industry risks meeting this significant anniversary in splendid isolation with a morally obsolete aircraft, and the Brazilian KS-390 may become the main type of medium transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force by that time. However, it will be worse if the Brazilian aircraft is also required for the Russian Air Force.
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