“Should have “jammed” Patriot: why Russia is scrapping the world’s only Il-76PP aircraftA rare Il-76PP jammer plane is being scrapped on the territory of the former training airfield in Irkutsk. The unique aircraft, which was supposed to counter the Patriot systems, was unable to perform its functions due to technical problems.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
According to the publication, this story is about a rather interesting and specific monster of Soviet development, which in theory should “jam” even the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems.
The exact time of the start of work on Il-76PP is not mentioned, there is only a general indication of “the mid-1980s”. This aircraft was produced in one copy, remained at the stage of experimental development, and never went into serial production.
For the conversion to the Il-76PP, a serial Il-76MD transporter was used, the work was carried out at the “Beriev ANTK” in Taganrog, which specializes in A-50 radar surveillance aircraft. It was assumed that the Il-76PP would be used primarily for “jamming” the radars of Western air defense systems of various types, in particular the same Patriots.
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The most interesting and specific detail that seems to have “buried” the IL-76PP project is that this aircraft was equipped with a radio-electronic warfare complex called “Landysh”, which was also used on the Su-24MP (the jamming variant was produced in the amount of 12 units ).
The fact is that the placement of the “Landysh” EW complex on the Il-76PP required, in particular, the installation of additional power sources. To solve this problem, the aircraft designers installed two additional generators based on the AI-24VT aircraft engine, each of which was supposed to supply four alternating currents on board the IL-76PP. However, it seems that even this was not enough for the reliable power supply of electronic equipment.
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But the most problematic thing was that in the course of work and tests, the Il-76PP designers did not manage to achieve electromagnetic compatibility of the plane’s on-board equipment and the “Landysh” complex, the containers of which were installed on the tips of the wings.
“In other words, the IL-76PP turned out to be a monstrous and, at the same time, non-functional development, which is not capable of fulfilling its main task, therefore, in 1993, this aircraft was put into storage on the territory of the above-mentioned training airfield in Irkutsk. Well, apparently, they “remembered” about this Il-76PP even when it was necessary to free up space for construction, i.e. at the end of 2024,” – summarized in Defense Express.