By the end of 2025, russia’s defense industry had completed the manufacture and delivery of seven Il-76MD-90A military transport aircraft. In both 2023 and 2024, six aircraft of this type were produced and delivered each year, while in 2022 only five were completed, and in 2021 just two. These figures were published by the unofficial bmpd blog, run by russia’s Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST).
If these data are accurate, russia set a production record for the Il-76MD-90A in 2025. Overall, during the full-scale war against Ukraine, russia has received a total of 24 new aircraft of this type. The key question, however, is whether this increase in production is sufficient to form four new military transport aviation (VTA) regiments, a plan announced by russia’s Ministry of Defense five years ago.
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Il-76MD-90A aircraftHow the Plans for New Il-76 Aircraft Have Been Implemented
russian propagandists first began discussing plans to establish new VTA regiments in early 2021. The proposed implementation timeline was set at ten years, with the stated goal of improving logistics to support the Kremlin’s aggressive military ambitions.
According to these plans, each aviation regiment was to consist of three squadrons with nine aircraft each. This would result in 27 aircraft per regiment and a total of 108 aircraft across four regiments. It was also assumed that these units would be equipped with An-26 and Il-76 aircraft, and possibly existing Mi-26 helicopters.
In practice, the implementation of this plan quickly ran into the limited capacity of russia’s defense industry to produce new Il-76MD-90A aircraft, a problem that has plagued the program for years. A contract signed in 2012 stipulated the delivery of 39 new aircraft by 2018. In reality, only four were delivered during that entire period.
After the contract was revised, a new plan envisaged the delivery of 13 Il-76MD-90A aircraft by 2021. This target was also missed. Only three aircraft were delivered in 2020 and two more in 2021. Actual deliveries continued to fall short of planned figures in subsequent years. For example, eight aircraft were scheduled for delivery in 2024, but only six were actually handed over.
Il-76MD-90A aircraft delivered in 2025
It is also noteworthy that russia announced the delivery of the first Il-76MD-90A in 2025 only in September of that year. This, in turn, fueled speculation that russia’s defense industry might fail to meet its production targets for 2025 altogether.
How Many Regiments Can Be Equipped with New Il-76 Aircraft?
Based on current data, russia’s military transport aviation operates three regiments equipped exclusively with Il-76MD aircraft, as well as two mixed regiments flying An-124-100 and Il-76MD or Il-76MD-90A aircraft. Overall, russia currently operates approximately 110 Il-76 aircraft in the MD and MD-90A variants.
The formation of four additional VTA regiments equipped with Il-76 aircraft would theoretically require a significant expansion of this fleet. In practice, however, russia has so far announced only the start of forming one new unit, the 600th Military Transport Aviation Regiment, within the 18th Military Transport Aviation Division. There have been no reports confirming the completion of this process. At the same time, it should be recalled that the 235th VTA Regiment was formed back in 2017 and is also receiving new Il-76MD-90A aircraft.
russian Il-76 aircraft / Open-source illustrative photo
The creation of new aviation regiments requires not only aircraft, but also trained personnel. However, russia announced the restoration of the Ulyanovsk Military Transport Aviation School only in 2024. This suggests that russia’s plans to expand its Il-76 fleet are constrained by two fundamental factors: persistent delays in aircraft production and limited capacity for personnel training.
For context, in 1990 the Soviet Union’s military transport aviation operated as many as 385 Il-76 aircraft. Even with substantial effort, russia is clearly unable to restore transport aviation capabilities on a Soviet-era scale.
According to open russian sources, between early 2022 and September 2023, russia’s military transport aviation conducted approximately 8,000 sorties in support of the full-scale war against Ukraine. These missions, carried out primarily by Il-76 and An-124 aircraft, transported 132,000 tons of cargo and delivered around 376,000 personnel.
Ivan Kyrychevskyi, serviceman of the 413th Raid Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine and weapons expert at Defense Express.