In Russia, work continues on the creation of a new heavy military transport aircraft, which should replace the proven, but rather outdated, Il-76, An-22 and An-124 Ruslan. The project received the code name PAK TA, which stands for "Advanced Aviation Complex of Transport Aviation." Currently, it is at the initial stage, the designers and the military determine the appearance and characteristics of future aircraft, so there is little information about the new car (or family of cars) and it is rather contradictory.
The new transport plane would come in very handy, not only to the military. One of Russia's largest transport companies, Volga-Dnepr, in 2018 announced plans to buy 20 American Boeing 747-8F cargo aircraft. The amount of this transaction is estimated at billions of dollars. It is likely that Russian carriers preferred the domestic transport aircraft if it existed in nature.
Military transport aviation: state of the art
Currently, transport aviation of the armed forces of the Russian Federation has four types of aircraft, the main difference of which is their carrying capacity. These are light transport aircraft (An-26) with a payload of 6 tons, medium (An-12, carrying capacity 20 tons), heavy (IL-76, load up to 60 tons) and super heavy aircraft, which include the An-124 "Ruslan" able to carry a load of 120 tons. The total number of transport vehicles in service with the Russian army is about 250 units.
In addition to the armed forces, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has its own transport aviation. It consists of IL-76 and An-74.
The most massive military transport aircraft of the Russian army (about 100 units) is the IL-76 of various modifications. In 2012, a modification of the Il-76MD-90A aircraft appeared, with more economical engines and modern on-board equipment.
In the Soviet Union, the main design bureau, which was engaged in the development of transport vehicles, was the Antonov Design Bureau in Kiev. The lion's share of transport aircraft, which today are used both in the army and in the "citizen", was developed by the designers of this bureau. After the collapse of the USSR, difficult hours began for this aircraft building enterprise. "Antonov" and today is engaged in the development and construction of aircraft, but the number of aircraft produced has decreased significantly.
The mass production of the pride of the Soviet aviation industry, the super-heavy An-124 Ruslan aircraft, has long been discontinued, and the service life of the machines used today is being exhausted. In August 2018, the Antonov State Enterprise banned Russian enterprises from independently carrying out maintenance of the An-124. This may lead to the fact that Russian aircraft simply will not be released outside the country.
In the years since the collapse of the USSR, the Russian and Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly tried to reanimate the former cooperation in the aircraft industry, but most of these attempts remained unfulfilled. The current situation in relations between the two countries is likely to put a fat cross on cooperation in this area.
And what is the situation with the transport aviation of potential enemies?
The United States has the world's largest fleet of transport aircraft; it has more than 400 machines of several types. In many ways, this allows the US Army to conduct large-scale operations for many thousands of kilometers from its borders. The main transport aircraft of the US Air Force (and the entire NATO unit) are C-130 Hercules (carrying capacity 19 tons) and C-17 Globemaster III (can lift up to 80 tons of cargo) and C-5 Galaxy (up to 120 tons of cargo).
At present, Europeans and Americans consider the development and mass production of transport vehicles with a lifting capacity above one hundred tons expensive and unnecessary exotic, although they are not shy to hire Ruslans to transport military and civilian goods.
Russian promising projects
In 2014, the plans of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation regarding the implementation of the PAK TA program were announced. The characteristics of the new transport aircraft for the Russian army, to put it mildly, surprised.
According to the voiced information, the PAK TA will have a supersonic speed (about 2000 km / h), a flight range of at least 7 thousand kilometers and a payload of up to 200 tons. Until 2024, the Russian armed forces should receive at least 80 such monsters. According to the developers, this air fleet will be able in the shortest possible time to deliver an armored fist of 400 (!!!) state-of-the-art Armata tanks and other armored vehicles based on it to any point on the globe.
PAK TA will have a deck with several levels, as well as the ability to parachute any equipment.
Such characteristics do not look too realistic: a supersonic aircraft of such capacity (and size) should consume a huge amount of fuel, for it will only fit special runways. In addition, the technical difficulties that will certainly arise before the creators of such an aircraft are hardly on the shoulder of the modern Russian aircraft industry, and the cost of production and maintenance of such machines will be exorbitant.
In addition to the above-mentioned project, materials about other promising transport airplanes, also called PAK TA, appear with enviable regularity in the domestic media.
First of all, we are talking about Illyushinsky IL-106 and PTS Yermak.
The IL-106 is a fairly old Ilyushin project, the development of which began in the mid-80s. Then a competition was announced for the creation of a new transport aircraft, which would have replaced the IL-76. The proposals were submitted by the OKB Tupolev, Ilyushin and Antonov, the Ilyushin project was declared the winner. The new aircraft received the designation IL-106, it was planned to finish before 1995, and in 1997 to launch a series. For obvious reasons, this did not happen.
According to the project, the IL-106 had a carrying capacity of up to 100 tons, was made according to the classical aerodynamic scheme and could carry cargo over a distance of 5 thousand km. New aircraft planned to equip the front and rear cargo ramps.
The fact that the new PAK TA is nothing more than a modified IL-106, in 2018, the Ilyushin general designer Nikolai Talikov told the TASS news agency. It is likely that the old Soviet development will serve as the basis for a new transport aircraft. There is information that the new machine will be equipped with the most powerful Russian civil aircraft engine NK-93. There is information that in 2018 the preliminary design of the PAK TA began.
Another machine, which is often spoken at the mention of the PAK TA, is the TCP "Ermak". This is also a project of the Ilyushin Design Bureau, the first mention of which appeared in 2013. The new car will have characteristics similar to the IL-106: a load capacity of up to 100 tons, a normal aerodynamic configuration. Work on the creation of "Ermak" plan to begin in 2018. Mass production of the machine is expected by 2024.
It is likely that the groundwork for the Il-106 aircraft will be the basis for the creation of the Yermak.
For the successful implementation of a complex project to create a modern super-heavy transport aircraft, a new corporation will be created: in addition to OAO Il, it will include the VM Myasischev EMR and UAC Transport Planes, as well as the two largest Russian aircraft factory - Ulyanovskiy and Voronezh (VASO).
Ilyushentsy have very ambitious plans: in addition to Yermak, the design bureau is developing the IL-112 (carrying capacity 6 tons), the MTA (a joint Russian-Indian project with a carrying capacity of 20 tons) and the heavy IL-476 (60 tons).
Create a new heavy transport aircraft will not be easy. After the collapse of the USSR, work on the creation of the new NK-92 (93) engine was practically stopped (due to underfinancing), and many other equally complex technical tasks would have to be solved. However, there is no other way. A new armored vehicle, which is planned to be delivered to the troops in the coming years, requires new means for its transportation. The IL-76 was designed to fit the dimensions of the T-72 tank, for transporting the T-90 it needs to be disassembled. An even more acute problem will arise after the adoption of the equipment created on the basis of the Armata combat platform. BMP Kurganets is several tons heavier than the BMP-3, which will seriously complicate the transfer of motorized rifle subunits by air.
According to the plans of the designers, the PAK TA project will be ready by the end of this decade, and at the beginning of the next the tests of the new aircraft will begin.
