Russia To Develop EW Aircraft Based On Upgraded Il-114-300 Plane

Russia may develop an electronic warfare aircraft based on an upgraded Ilyushin Il-114-300 plane, Ilyushin Aircraft Company Director for Il-114 Programs Ivan Kabatov said.

"With its unique performance characteristics, the plane is an optimal platform for making air platforms to solve the broadest range of tasks - from monitoring, patrolling and transport carriages to electronic warfare, reconnaissance and combat employment," Kabatov told TASS on Tuesday.

The RADAR-MMS Research and Production Enterprise has accumulated vast experience in testing and using promising radio-electronic complexes on the basis of the Il-114LL flying laboratory, he said.

"The duration of hovering, the low cruising speed, the broad temperature range and the possibility of its use from unprepared aerodromes give all the grounds to consider this aircraft as a platform for special versions for years to come," the director of Il-114 programs said.

The Il-114-300 twin-engine turboprop plane is an upgraded version of the Il-114 aircraft developed in the 1980s.