Ilyushin IL-38 (May)

History

The Ilyushin IL-38 (NATO codename "May") is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine platform dedicated to the Russian and Indian navies. The IL-38 is a militarized evolution of the IL-18, a civilian airliner built by the same Soviet state bureau. Aside from its similar appearance to the IL-18, the IL-38 shares few key features with the original civilian aircraftmost notably its turboprop engine. Additionally, the IL-38 featured an improved nose assembly that made it approximately 13 feet 1.5 inches longer than the IL-18. The wings were also moved forward along the fuselage to compensate for the increased mission equipment weight and adjusted center of gravity, and to reduce the number of cabin windows commonly used in civilian versions of the IL-38.

Therefore, the IL-38 is often regarded as a completely "newly built" aircraft, and the implementation of dedicated airborne systems proves its specialized role.

The prototype version first flew on September 28, 1961. The aircraft went into production under the designation "IL-38" until 1967. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the aircraft was a regular part of the then Soviet naval aviation. Since then, IL-38 has been operating under the banner of the revived Russian Naval Air Service. Since the end of production of the IL-38 in 1972, its main role was gradually replaced by the more powerful and long-range four-engine Tupolev Tu-142 ("Bear").

Despite the emergence of the "Bear" series, the IL-38 still retains its operational value for the Russian Navy today. Around 57 IL-38 prototypes are believed to have been produced for the Soviet Russian Navy, with another five delivered to India.

The aircraft has a sleek cylindrical fuselage and a pronounced streamlined shape. The cockpit is kept very forward in design and placed behind the nose cone. A weather radar is placed under the nose cone assembly. The Berkut search radar (meaning "Golden Eagle", or "Wet Eye" in NATO) is located just aft and below the flight deck of the cockpit and is housed in a prominent fuselage air bag. The wings are low-mounted monoplanes, located forward amidships.

Four engines are housed in a slender, streamlined nacelle protruding from the leading edge of each wing (two engines per wing). The tail is more or less conventional, with a high vertical tail. The horizontal stabilizer is mounted slightly behind the rear wing. A boom with a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) is placed between the horizontal stabilizers and under the tail. Mission weapons are stored in two internal bomb bays - one in front of the wing assembly to accommodate the sonar cloth, and one behind the wing to accommodate the actual weapons.

The stern starboard hatch is how the crew disembarks and disembarks. The landing gear is a traditional tricycle arrangement with a pair of four-wheel main struts and a two-wheel front strut.

Standard operators consist of nine to ten people, including two pilots, a flight engineer, sensor operators, a MAD operator, a tactical coordinator, and designated mission observers.

The IL-38 is powered by two ZMKB Progress (Ivchenko) AI-20M turboprop engines, each delivering over 4,250 hp and equipped with four-blade propellers. This gives the IL-38 a top speed of 380 to 400 mph and a range of 4,400 to 6,000 miles, with a lifespan of nearly 12 hours of constant flight time. The service cap is listed at approximately 32,800 feet with a climb rate of 1,050 feet per minute.

Empty weight is close to 74,000 pounds, and maximum takeoff weight is close to 140,000 pounds. Up to 20,000 pounds of external and internal supplies can be carried to high altitudes in the form of depth charges (nuclear and conventional), mines, conventionally thrown bombs, and air-launched torpedoes.

This diverse armamentplus on-board sensors, tracking and targeting systemsenables the IL-38 to fight a wide variety of enemy surface and submarine types.

Although the communist sphere of influence was far-reaching during the Cold War, only India became a foreign operator of IL-38 and received at least five examples based on Goa Dablomin between 1975 and 1983. Like the Soviet and Russian Navy, the IL-38 is in service with the Indian Navy, the only difference being the implementation of the Seeadler anti-ship missile system.

India's IL-38s were flown back to Russia at some point to modernize and upgrade critical systems, and have since returned to Indian service (as of this writing) under the new designation IL-38 SD to indicate the changes.

In addition to its inherent anti-submarine and maritime patrol roles, the IL-38 airframe has proven itself capable of some notable transformations - namely ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) models, air command posts, VIP transports and special general transport variants .

On September 10, 2010, US media reported that an IL-38 flew several narrow routes near the guided-missile frigate USS Taylor in the Barents Sea, less than 50 meters from the side of the ship. The next day , a Helix anti-submarine helicopter visited the event. Such confrontations between the U.S. Navy and Russian aircraft have been common since the Cold War era.

These events are usually displays of force or exercises by either side and rarely lead to direct military confrontation.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes