The Indian Air Force is examining life-extension plans to keep 11 IL-76 aircraft operational until 2050 through structural evaluations, potential engine replacements, and avionics modernizations. A 2017 auditor report previously exposed that fleet readiness had plummeted below 38 percent due to prolonged spare parts procurement delays. Retaining these heavy-lift assets is critical because the military operates only 11 C-17 Globemaster III transports, leaving a strategic gap if the older Russian airframes are retired without equivalent replacements.
Key points
The Indian military must maintain the aging IL-76 fleet because alternative medium transp…: The Indian military must maintain the aging IL-76 fleet because alternative medium transport aircraft lack its 40-to-45-tonne cargo capacity.
Supply chain disruptions stemming from the Soviet Union's collapse continue to hamper mai…: Supply chain disruptions stemming from the Soviet Union's collapse continue to hamper maintenance across the remaining 14 Gajraj transport planes.
Upgrading the Russian airframes is vital to supporting India's strategic heavy-lift logis…: Upgrading the Russian airframes is vital to supporting India's strategic heavy-lift logistics alongside the military's 11 C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
When the
Indian Air Force (IAF) announced on November 7 that an IL-76MD had landed at Nyoma in eastern Ladakh at 13,629 feet, marking the highest-altitude landing by the aircraft type anywhere in the world, the message was about capability. The airfield is around 25 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the landing demonstrated that India's largest Russian-origin military transport aircraft can still operate close to the frontier.
The Gajraj: IAF's heavy-duty workhorse
The IL-76MD, known in the IAF as the Gajraj, was inducted on June 16, 1985, with No. 44 Squadron. India acquired 17 aircraft between 1985 and 1989.
It was used in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and Operation Cactus in 1988, when it flew paratroopers to the Maldives. It also served during the Kargil conflict, evacuations from crisis zones, Covid-19 supply missions and disaster relief operations overseas.
After the Galwan clash, the IAF airlifted more than 68,000 troops, around 90 tanks and nearly 330 infantry combat vehicles. However, the operation also involved C-17 and C-130J aircraft, so the IL-76 cannot take credit for the…
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