Recently in Russia five of the eighteen Il-76MD-90A aircraft were grounded, i.e. over 25 percent of the entire fleet the latest variant of Russian military transporters. The local investigative committee announced that the reason for such a decision was the equipment of the planes low quality bearings substandard.
Investigators focused their attention primarily on the steelworks and mechanical plants in the town of Balashikha, located about 10 kilometers east of Moscow. The plant was supposed to import low-quality parts from abroad in order to meet the deadlines imposed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The whole thing is interesting because the bearings that were installed in the landing gear of the aircraft at the Aviastar factory in Ulyanovsk on the Volga River had false documentation identifying their origin as a bearing factory in Saratov, and They probably came from Chin. Additionally, the documents were to fake certification of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The use of these substandard parts resulted in a number of faults and finally ground five Il-76MD-90A machines, which managed to install these elements. The authorities of the Balashikha plant are currently being questioned, and all documentation related to suspicious transactions was also supposed to be confiscated.
The whole situation is probably the result of an announcement by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade in mid-June. Russian factories were informed then that failure to meet deadlines included in contracts from the arms industry will result in the state taking over factories.
It is clear that the Russians are starting to have serious problems with military contracts, which difficult inflow of some from the West They often take major delays. The local army cannot afford to be behind, so they decided to intimidate the factory owners. Unfortunately for the Russians, this has largely backfired, and now 25 percent of their key, state-of-the-art transporters are grounded.
Plane Il-76 is a 4-engine jet transport aircraft of Soviet production. The machine is being built from 1974 and by that time about a thousand units were to be produced. The aircraft was designed primarily for transporting heavy equipment over long distancesthe effectiveness of which was proven during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistanwhere the Il-76s were responsible for transport 89 percent of troops i 74 percent of goods to the combat zone.
Currently, the Il-76 is the design on which it is based. most of the Russian heavy specialist aircraft. This includes, among other things, tankers, early warning aircraft Whether command machinesalthough the Il-76 is also used by civilian airlines.
In total, the Russian Air Force is to have 128 copies Il-76 aircraft in various transport variants, however, a significant part of this number are machines manufactured in the USSR, which largely remain out of order. Currently, it is the most numerous strategic transport aircraft in Russia. It is on it that almost all of Russia’s heavy air transport is based.
Source: geekweek.interia.pl
