May be to disable Patriot: why the only Il-76PP plane in the world is being disposed of in the Russian Federation.

In the territory of the former training airfield in Irkutsk, the disposal of a rare jamming aircraft, the Il-76PP, is taking place. This unique aircraft, which was supposed to combat the Patriot systems, failed to perform its tasks due to technical problems. This was reported by Defense Express.

Russian media reported the disposal of the rare jamming aircraft Il-76PP on the territory of the former training airfield in Irkutsk. This is being done to free up space for construction.

According to media reports, this aircraft was intended for combating the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. However, it was produced in only one copy and remained at the experimental development stage without entering serial production.

To convert the Il-76PP into a jamming aircraft, a serial transport plane, the Il-76MD, was used at the 'ANTK named after Beriev' plant in Taganrog, which specializes in A-50 radar reconnaissance aircraft. It was planned that the Il-76PP jamming aircraft would be used to suppress Western anti-aircraft missile systems' radar, including the Patriot.

Experts claim that the project failed because the aircraft was equipped with the 'Landish' electronic warfare system, and additional power sources were needed for its placement. To solve this problem, the designers installed two additional generators based on the AI-24VT aircraft engine, each of which was supposed to supply power to four sockets on board the Il-76PP. It turned out that this was insufficient for the reliable power supply of the electronic warfare equipment.

Additionally, during operation and testing, it was impossible to achieve electromagnetic compatibility between the onboard equipment of the aircraft and the 'Landish' system.

As a result, the Il-76PP jamming aircraft turned out to be ineffective and unable to perform its tasks. Therefore, in 1993, it was put into storage at the training airfield in Irkutsk. Only at the end of 2024 was this aircraft recalled in connection with the need to free up space for construction.

Also, we remind that an explosion occurred at the 'Ostafyevo' airfield in the Moscow region involving a military transport aircraft An-72. The cost of the damaged aircraft is about $4.5 million.

Incidentally, Russian forces in Ukraine have lost almost half of their heavy military equipment, including all supplies of T-90 tanks and a significant number of T-80s.