The Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane, which crashed after being shot down by a missile in Russia's Belgorod region, has a long history in the Kremlin's armed forces. Developed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau in the 1970s and put into service by Aeroflot and the Soviet Army. The Il-76 is capable of transporting a variety of heavy loads over long distances.
Designed for landing and transporting personnel, cargo and military equipment, the Il-76 can carry 126 paratroopers with their equipment, 145 people in a single-deck configuration and 225 in a double-deck configuration. The crew consists of up to seven people.
The maximum payload is 48 tons and the flight range with a load of 40 tons is 4,750 km. The maximum flight altitude is 13,000 meters and in the armed version it can be transported Machine guns and pylons for firing bombs.
The Ilyushin Il-76, which celebrated its half-century just two years ago, has four turbojet engines originally developed in the 1980s and installed in nacelles under the wings.
Throughout its history, Ilyushin has produced more than 900 units. Many of them are still in operation. Ukrainian forces attacked and damaged at least four models during the war.