It is important to build up the production of Il-76MD-90A heavy military transport planes and Su-57 fifth-generation fighters for the Russian troops, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said at the ministry’s conference call on Tuesday, TASS reported.
“This year, it is important to build up the production of advanced types of armament: Su-57 fifth-generation multirole fighters and new Il-76MD-90A heavy military transport planes,” the defense chief said.
No less important is the work to resume the production of upgraded Tu-160M strategic bombers at the Kazan Aviation Enterprise, Shoigu stressed.
“Today we will talk about how to ensure the systematic workload of our aviation enterprises and solve a number of technological tasks,” the defense chief said.
“We will discuss the pace of implementing the defense procurement plan and providing maintenance services for aircraft. Last year, enterprises of the United Aircraft Corporation supplied 147 aircraft to the Armed Forces, including the first serial-produced Su-57 multirole fighter,” Shoigu said.
In 2020, upgraded Tu-160M and Tu-95MSM strategic missile-carrying bombers performed their debut flights. The defense contractors completed two long-term contracts for the delivery of Su-35S multirole fighters and Su-34 fighter bombers to the troops, the defense chief said.
The Il-76MD-90A is a heavily upgraded version of the Il-76MD military transport plane. The aircraft’s new navigation and automated control systems and its communications suite enhance flight safety and the accuracy of piloting and landing.
The latest modification of the widely known military transport plane is distinguished by its new equipment, including the glass cockpit, modern PS-90A-76 engines, the modified wing and the enhanced landing gear. Russia is developing an Il-78-90A aerial refueling tanker on the basis of the Il-76MD-90A plane.
The Su-57 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter designed to destroy all types of air, ground and naval targets. The Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of developing supersonic cruising speed and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.
The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.
The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.
