Eighth Russian Navy Il-38N

The Russian Navy has received its eighth IlyushinIl-38N ASW aircraft after service life extension and equipment modernisation. Attending the ceremony on 31 January 2017 at the Ramenskoye aerodrome south of Moscow, Russian Naval Aviation Commander Gen Igor Kozhin declared plans for eventual modernisation of “about thirty” of the 54 aircraft currently in the inventory, stating that work on the fleet would run through 2025. Gen Kozhin said that the Il-38 and Tu142 would continue as the primary ASW types in Russian service. “These are old platforms, but we expect a substantial increase in their capabilities through equipment modernisation. ”Nikolai Stolyarov of United Aircraft Corporation said Ilyushin and its industrial partners – Myasishchev and Aircraft Repair Plant No. 20 would continue to work on service life extensions and modernisation of other versions of the baseline Il-18 in service with the Russia Aerospace Forces. “This platform has proved very reliable, durable and robust. We hope the Il-38N modernisation programme will continue… after successful completion of special flight trials that will commence shortly.”

(The Indian Navy continues to operate five Il-38 ‘Sea Dragons’, but the remaining eight Tu-142Ms are being phased out end-March 2017: special Vayu-on-the-Spot coverage in next Issue).