Russia promises 2 new transport aircraft: Are the Il-100 & Il-276 more than paper planes?
December 9, 2025
Russia’s Aviastar says it will move ahead with two next-generation transport aircraft: the Il-100 (Il-106), a heavy strategic airlifter, and the Il-276, a medium transport designed to replace ageing Soviet-era fleets.
Aviastar operates under Ilyushin within Russia’s wider UAC aerospace group.
Russia plans new PAK TA Il-100 heavy transport aircraft
According to reporting by Kommersant, Ulyanovsk Region Governor Alexey Russkikh said that Aviastar — the Il-76 manufacturer — plans to produce two new transport aircraft: the Il-100, the heavy PAK TA design formerly known as the Il-106, and the Il-276 medium transport.
Aviastar-SP, subsidiary of the Ilyushin company, has announced plans to begin production of two new transport aircraft: the heavy transport Il-100 and the medium transport Il-276 (SVTS). The Il-276 will be powered by two PD-14M engines, and Il-100 will be equipped with four PD-26 pic.twitter.com/pwRUXkQsEp
— H. Memarian (@HEMemarian) December 4, 2025
Russkikh made the statement during a live Q&A session with the region’s residents. The announcement was in the context of plans to expand the plant’s workforce and introduce modern machinery to the factory.
The massive Ilyushin Il-100/Il-106 Slon (i.e., “elephant”) is designed as the successor to the giant Soviet/Ukrainian-origin Antonov An-124 Ruslan, which is currently the largest military transport aircraft in the world. It would have a payload capacity of 80-100 tons.
While the Russian Governor’s comments may make it sound like the production is imminent, Defense Express says the aircraft only exists in the form of “preliminary sketches.” It’s possible the announcement was more propaganda than anything else.
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Russia further promises an Il-276 medium transport aircraft
Komersant says the Il-276 was originally designated the Il-114, although it should not be confused with the turboprop passenger airliner also called the Il-114.
The Il-276 is a downsized version of the strategic Il-76 strategic transport that remains in production at Aviastar’s Ulyanovsk plant. The aircraft is to have two engines, although it also appears to be a paper plane at present.
The Il-276 is intended to replace the Antonov An-12, An-26, and An-72 aircraft that were built by Ukraine, including the former Ukrainian SSR. The Il-276 has a cargo compartment that is identical to the cross-section of the Il-76, although the fuselage is shorter.
The Russian-language Komersant reported, “the aircraft should be capable of transporting up to 80% of all types of weapons and military equipment at a significantly lower cost.”
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) entered a joint venture in 2009 to develop the Il-276, only for India to walk away around 2015. Something similar happened with the development of the Su-57, with India also abandoning the project.
India plans to retire its ageing An-32 fleet by around 2032, and it is mostly replacing it with the Airbus C-295 (56 ordered) while also considering Embraer C-390s. Locheed Martin is also pitching its C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifters.
The Ukrainian news outlet, Defense Express, was quick to ridicule both of the aircraft. It said “neither aircraft has yet made its first flight, although Russians have been working on one of them for almost 25 years.”
Russian aircraft production is largely a flight of fancy
It is often difficult to assess Russia’s ability to deliver on the aircraft it is promising. For example, Russia’s Sukhoi first unveiled a new next-generation lightweight fighter jet mockup at the MAKS Airshow 2021, which it called the Su-75 Checkmate.
It was stated that the aircraft’s first flight would be in 2023, but as of 2025, there is no indication that it has flown. The aircraft was also suspiciously absent from the Dubai Air Show 2025, save for a small model that appeared to be a drone concept.
In 2022, Russia promised to deliver 1,000 commercial aircraft of all descriptions by 2030, but as of the end of 2025, it may have delivered one (a Tu-214 business jet).
Sanctions have not stopped Russia from producing aircraft, but they have helped to constrain it. Russia is struggling to ramp up production and or even build aircraft to on-paper specifications, with recent leaks showing its new Su-57 Felon fighter jet has been missing some key systems.
In 2025, Russia also announced it was patenting the design for a widebody airliner to compete with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. For now, it seems unlikely such an aircraft will ever come off the drawing board.
Featured Image: Wikimedia Commons
