Ilyushin Company plans to start the development of next-generation transport aircraft dubbed Ermak in 2016, Interfax-AVN reports.

"In 2016 we are going to start the development of a family of heavy transport aircraft with a payload of 80 tons and more. These are wide-body aircraft. The next-generation transport aircraft was dubbed Ermak. It is planned to start the airliner’s mass production in 2024", - CEO of Ilyushin Company, Sergey Sergeev, said.

He noted that Ilyushin Company is facing a great challenge. The whole transport aircraft fleet must be replaced: light, medium, heavy and long-range heavy aircraft segments. "We hope to start the development of a military-transport aircraft with a payload of under 20 tons as soon as possible (the aircraft will replace An-12 vehicles) in the network of MTA project, which is being implemented by Russia and India", - S.Sergeev added.