RuAviation

On May 30th, Anton Alikhanov, the Minister of Industry and Trade, conducted a working visit to the “Aviastar” aircraft manufacturing plant in the Ulyanovsk region. During the visit, he inspected the production line of the Il-76MD-90A military transport aircraft. Minister Alikhanov stated that the plant is projected to produce seven of these aircraft this year. The plan is to increase the annual production rate to 12 aircraft by the end of 2027. Further expansion of production capacity will be considered in three years, taking into account the aircraft’s export potential.

According to the Minister, significant progress has been made by the Ulyanovsk team over the past four years. He emphasized the goal to assist the plant in resolving bottlenecks and acquiring new equipment, including both domestically produced (Ulyanovsk-made) and imported equipment from friendly nations. This investment aims to increase the production rate to 12 aircraft per year by the end of 2027, and subsequently to 18 Il-76 aircraft per year.

The Il-76MD-90A production at “Aviastar” utilizes a jigless assembly technology on an automated flow line (AFL). This AFL consists of ten robotic stations for joining fuselage sections, wings, and empennage, as well as for installing power plants and systems. Equipped with a laser tracking system, the AFL ensures high-precision assembly. The transition to the AFL has reduced the assembly cycle time by 38% compared to traditional jig-based methods. However, refining the technological process on the AFL requires time and continuous improvement.

The design capacity of the AFL at “Aviastar” is 18 aircraft per year. Initial plans announced in 2020 aimed to reach a production rate of 12 Il-76MD-90A aircraft per year by 2024, equivalent to one aircraft per month. The first three aircraft assembled on the AFL were used for design and technological refinement of the assembly process. While the original plan called for the delivery of six aircraft to the Ministry of Defense in 2020, only three were delivered. Two aircraft were delivered in 2021, five in 2022, and six heavy airlifters were delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) in both 2023 and 2024.

The advantage of flow assembly lies in the ability to vary throughput between stations. The fundamental principle of the AFL is the cycle time or assembly takt. Each station must maintain a consistent manufacturing cycle time. The initial cycle time for the first aircraft was set at 28 working days per station. This was reduced to 26 days for the second aircraft and 24 days for the third, which enabled a production rate of eight aircraft per year.

To reach a production rate of 12 aircraft per year and eventually the AFL’s design capacity of 18 aircraft, “Aviastar” requires additional equipment. Minister Alikhanov noted that this equipment was previously supplied by former partners before the Special Military Operation (SVO). Technological process improvements and adaptation to the new jigless technology may also be required. Increasing the production rate will necessitate the recruitment of additional qualified engineering and technical personnel, assemblers, and workers. Despite the automation of the production process, systematic refinement and problem-solving are required at each stage of assembly.