Under the 2011-2020 State Armament Program, the Russian air forces are to procure some 600 planes, including over a hundred of military airlifters and their purpose-oriented variants.

However, with its military transport aircraft program still under development, Russia is now facing the problem of renewing its several-hundred-strong freighter jet fleet. The only cargo plane with a clear successor is the most popular Il-76 airlifter.

Of some 200 Il-76s that will have been roaming the skies for over 35 years by 2020, only up to 35 will be replaced with newer jets. The implementation of this revamp plan is largely hinged on the success of the Il-76MD-90 plane. It's noteworthy that the Il-76 will also spin off a variety of airborne refueling tankers and early warning aircraft.

The rest of the Il-76 fleet will be overhauled and remotorized to stay in service. Although not very ambitious, this plan won't probably suffice Russia's need for better cargo jets, with medium (up to 20 tons) and light (up to 12 tons) airlifters proving to be the major challenge.

Today, the whole lot of Russia's medium airlifters is mostly presented by the An-12, a jet whose batch production was launched in 1950s and halted some twenty earls later. The "youngest" of the still flying An-12s are in fact in their forties now, same as the US C-130 Hercules, which regularly rolls off the ramp and has no problems finding a replacement.

The average age of the An-12 bulk serving in the Russian air forces is closing on 50 years, while the production of its substitute, the An-70, is still pending as the military are deciding what factory should undertake this task.

Moreover, over the years the An-12 has grown to resemble heavy cargo planes in both its basic characteristics and face value, which can potentially make it a replacement candidate for the earlier Il-76 variants. Another possible An-12 successor, the Il-214, is a Russian-Indian joint project, which is always falling behind the schedule and won't see the light of day till 2017.

Yet another variant is the Ukrainian An-178, an off-spin of the highly successful An-148 passenger plane by the Antonov resign bureau, which hasn't tried its wings yet.

The biggest problem presents the replacement of the light An-26 airlifter, another 50-year-old Soviet vet. With the light Il-112 program scrapped due to its high cost, the An-140T could be another alternative for the An-26.

However, the An-140T jet, which is the freighter variant of the passenger An-140 plane, hasn't gone far beyond its blueprint stage. Today, the Russian air forces are purchasing the An-140-100, a passenger transport command plane not fit for freight tasks.

All in all, the military is now searching for an An-12 successor that could carry a payload of up to 5-10 tons. One of the Soviet-time jets capable of tackling this task is the An-74, which is still manufactured at the Kharkov Aircraft Plant.

However, the plant's production capacity won't satisfy the Russian military need for several dozens of airlifters over the period of eight to ten years, while the very idea of modernizing a Ukrainian factory will probably be waved off by Russian politicians.

The rest of the replacement candidates are "of foreign descent," including the Italian C27J Spartan, which has been a great success with Eastern Europe. Strong ties with Italy can make it easier for Russia to obtain its manufacturing license.

Not the best way out for the Russian military. But in a situation where Russia is searching for an alternative to the obsolete An-26, licensed Italian cargo jets are obviously better than none at all.

Source: Voice of Russia