GeorgeWelch wrote:
Please show me a picture of a T-90 on an Il-76.
No such picture exists
Well now that a picture of a T-90 inside an IL-76 has been produced, you, dear Sir, show us a picture of an Indian Arjun inside a C-17. While you are at it, I would also like to see a Canadian Leopard II inside a Canadian C-17 and a British Challenger 2 tank inside a British C-17.
I suspect the sole reason the Aussies purchased used M-1 Abrams tanks at the same time they purchased the C-17 is because its the only modern main battle tank that is certified to fit inside the C-17.
The difficulty in loading the T-72 inside the IL-76 was because instead of having an engineering team work on developing a technique of loading and unloading the tank into the aircraft and writing an instruction manual on how to perform the task (as the US did to load the M-1 Abrams into the C-17), the IAF flight crews had to improvise a method through trial and error when they were tasked with airlifting T-72s to Sri Lanka. I did not read that they had any problems with subsequent T-72 airlifts such as the one to Leh which is mentioned the article, probably thanks to the lessons learned in the initial airlift.
Now I would like to actually SEE a C-17 land on a real 3500 foot unpaved runway with a 39 tonne payload in the belly. I do not want to see a C-17 land in under 3500 feet on a long dry, asphalt runway, I know it can do that, I want to see the real thing. I am also dying to see a C-17 land in any of those mountain unpaved airstrips where the An-32s routinely land. Just a little demo, with an Arjun in the hold.......
Finally about the Il-76. Nine hundred and sixty (960) Il-76 airframes were built. More than all US C-141s (285), C-5s (131) and C-17s (±200) put together. There are still over 200 IL-76s in airline service today and about as many in military service. There are also several hundred grounded ones in the world, old, damaged, derelict, time-expired, or just neglected.
The original engines of the IL-76 (D-30) are the most common aircraft engines in Russia. It is found not only on the IL-76 but on the IL-62 and the Tu-134, Tu-154. The new version, the PS-90, is still in production and is found on the IAF A-50 AWACS, on the IL-76TD-90 but also on the IL-96 and on the Tu-204.
Many of the avionics and parts of the IL-76 are common to other popular Russian and Ukrainians models.
To claim that it is hard to find parts for an Il-76 is just plainly ridiculous. If those who want to back such a claim can produce a single Il-76 in the world whose owner has money to buy parts but cannot find a certain part to fix his IL-76, let us hear about it.
There are only 26 Commercial An-124s in the world and only one An-225. Not a single one of them is grounded for lack of parts. Why ? They are money makers.
The only Il-76s that are grounded for lack of parts are those whose owners have no money to buy them.
) if it did.
