Rosoboronexport started delivery of 10 Il-76MD military-transport aircraft to China, Lenta.ru reports with reference to Jane's.

This refers to repaired and upgraded jets put out of service by Russian navy and the ones previously operated by civil cargo and passenger airlines.

The contract on delivery of three Il-76MDs to China was signed in late 2011 and later expanded to ten aircraft in November 2012. The total value of this contract is unknown. As reported by the source, most probably the Ministry of Defense of China will not purchase another batch of Il-76MD aircraft due to development of its own Y-20 transport aircraft.

China signed a contract on delivery of 34 new Il-76 transport aircraft and four Il-78 tankers in 2005. The amount of this contract was $1,5 billion. This contract has never been implemented due to bankruptcy of Tashkent Aviation Production Association named after Chkalov, which should have manufactured the jets. The parties intended to review the agreement; however, its fate is unknown.

Meanwhile, the advanced Chinese Y-20 transport aircraft powered by D-30KP engines (Il-76 is equipped with the same engines) performed its maiden flight in late January 2013. Its performance is comparable with the Russian analogues. The weight-lift ability of the Chinese transport aircraft is 66 tons.