Profile
- Type
- Heavy military transport aircraft
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- Service note
- Cold War design with continuing service in modernized variants
Aircraft & UAVs
Il-76
The Il-76 is a four-engine Soviet-designed heavy transport aircraft built for military airlift, cargo delivery, troop movement, and rough-field operations. In the Russia-Ukraine War archive it is documented through Ukrainian Air Force Il-76MD use during the 2014 Luhansk airport air bridge, where one aircraft was destroyed while carrying troops and equipment.
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Built in
- Soviet UnionUzbekistanRussia
Service History
- In service
- In military and civil transport service since the 1970s
- Used by
- Ukrainian Air Force, Russian Aerospace Forces
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War
Production History
- Designer
- Ilyushin Design Bureau
- Designed
- Late 1960s design; first flight in 1971
- Built in
- Soviet UnionUzbekistanRussia
- Produced
- 1970s-present for the Il-76 family and modernized variants
- Variants
- Il-76M, Il-76MD, Il-76TD, Il-76MD-90A, Il-78 tanker
Specifications
- Configuration
- Four-engine high-wing jet transport with rear cargo ramp
- Length
- 46.6 m for Il-76MD-90A
- Wingspan
- 50.5 m for Il-76MD-90A
- Maximum payload
- 60 t for Il-76MD-90A
- Cruise speed
- 750-780 km/h for Il-76MD-90A
- Range
- 5,000 km with 52 t payload for Il-76MD-90A
- Engines
- 4 x PS-90A-76 turbofans on Il-76MD-90A
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Ukraine
A Ukrainian Air Force Il-76MD was used on the wartime airlift into Luhansk airport in June 2014; one aircraft was shot down on approach, killing nine crew and forty soldiers.
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Il-76MD-90A / Il-78M-90APublisher: United Aircraft Corporation | Note: Supports manufacturer background and published specifications for the modernized Il-76MD-90A transport variant. | Accessed: 2026-06-20History of the 7th Rapid Response Corps Air Assault ForcesPublisher: 7th Rapid Response Corps of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine | Note: Directly supports the Russia-Ukraine War note on the Ukrainian Il-76 shot down near Luhansk airport on 14 June 2014. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Accident Ilyushin Il-76MD 76777, Saturday 14 June 2014Publisher: Aviation Safety Network | Note: Supports aircraft variant, operator, Luhansk approach phase, casualties, and cargo context for the conflict-use note. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:Ilyushin Il-76 in 1990.JPEGPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for a public-domain U.S. Department of Defense photograph of an Il-76MD. | Accessed: 2026-06-20