Flight trials of the Il-112V
The future Russian light military transport aircraft Ilyushin Il-112V has been spotted at the test base of the aircraft plant in Voronezh *.
The aircraft, with registration RF-41400 (construction number 01-01) and coded 01 yellow, is the first example of the type which started taxi trials back in December 2018 and took to the air for the first time on 30 March 2019. The Ilyushin has been undergoing factory flight trials since 18 June 2019.
Another prototype, c/n 01-02, been built for static and fatigue tests at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI, Zhukovsky), while the production of the third and fourth Il-112V already started in Voronezh back in 2019.
The Il-112V is the first military transporter developed by Russia from scratch in the post-Soviet period. The work on the aircraft's development has been going on since 2014 and has suffered some setbacks mainly due to increased weight which resulted in shorter than anticipated flight range.
The Il-112V is designed to carry up to 5 tonnes of cargo and personnel and is able to accommodate 44 armed soldiers. The Ilyushin Aviation Complex (JSC IL) is developing the aircraft to replace the ageing An-26 and An-24 turbo-prop tarnsporters. The Il-112V shall come in two modifications: the Il-112V military hauler and the Il-112T for civil aviation.
Once tested, the series production of the new aircraft can be launched in 2022. Using existing production facilities, the Voronezh factory is able to produce up to 12 aircraft annually, higher output requires additional investments. Thus far, the Russian Federation - Aerospace Forces (RF VKS) have expressed interest in buying approximately 100 aircraft.
*) PJSC VACM (Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Company), part of the UAC United Aircraft Corporation.
Photo: @AnatolyVlasov87, kindly provided by vk.com