First prototype of IL-112V light military transport aircraft has come to the final assembly workshop

The first prototype of IL-112V light military transport aircraft has come to the final assembly workshop. The specialists of the Voronezh Joint Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company PJSC (VASO PJSC; forms part of the United Aircraft Corporation PJSC) have completed a most important stage of aircraft manufacture production cycle, i.e. wing coupling with the fuselage. 

The wing of IL-112V aircraft is a monolithic construction, which is a unique feature of the new light transport aircraft. Instead of two separate panels connected with the centre-section, the IL-112V single-piece wing is attached to the fuselage from above with the help of load-bearing elements and special mounts. This design concept will lighten the weight of the aircraft and make the aircraft operation more cost-effective.

“For the first time in Russia, a transport aircraft has a monowing installed, that is why it is a very important stage for the factory’s specialists”, said Anatoly Suponetsky, deputy production director, head of the VASO final assembly workshop. “The manufacture of IL-112 is in many respects unique; suffice to say that less than a year has passed from the moment of beginning of the works. But the team successfully copes with very complicated tasks thanks to the professional competence, high responsibility, and talent of our designers, production engineers, and workers”.

The works on IL-112V project are being carried out pursuant to the state contract on development efforts aimed at manufacture of a light military transport aircraft. The contract is concluded between the Russian Ministry of Defence and IL OJSC (forms part of the UAC). The IL-112V light transport aircraft with the maximum load of up to 5 tons is designed for transportation of personnel, military equipment, various types of armament and other cargoes. IL-112V will replace the An-26 aircraft park.

The airframe of the first prototype is expected to be fully completed prior to the end of February. Afterwards, the VASO specialists will begin installation of engines, systems, and aircraft equipment. At the same time, construction works of the second prototype are in progress. The second prototype is designed for strength and endurance tests.

“The aircraft is being manufactured only from homemade components and is going to be fitted with equipment of Russia made hardware components. Our common task is to make an aircraft as good as its modern foreign analogues. The aircraft is going to be equipped with new systems that have been applied on, for example, the modernized IL-76MD-90A heavy transport aircraft”, pointed out Sergei Velmozhkin, the general director of IL OJSC.

The IL-112V is being created digitally, in accordance with the modern standards in aircraft engineering, which reduces the project execution time. For the first time in production, 3D-terminals are used, with the help of which one can examine the configuration of any item and the stages of a technological cycle, both during designing and production. In future, the use of digital designing will increase the effectiveness of after-sales and support service.

More than 60% of designers, production engineers and workers involved in the manufacture of IL-112V aircraft are the company’s young specialists, including the winners and prizetakers of corporate and all-Russian WorldSkills Hi-Tech contests of blue-collar workers.

The production capacities of VASO allow manufacturing from eight to twelve IL-112 aircraft per year, depending on the volume of orders.