On the aircraft plant in Voronezh (VASO) transferred air item of the third generation of management representatives of Russian Ministry of Defense, built on the basis of the modified IL-96-400, writes "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".

By order of the military department widebody transport ship equipped with special communications. In peacetime, the aircraft will be operated for senior staff travel of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Airborne command posts (colloquially known  as the "doomsday aircraft") are intended for the organization of military control in the event of a conflict with the massive use of nuclear weapons, when much of the terrestrial communications infrastructure will be put out of action. Such planes are only in Russia and the United States.

In Russia, at the moment there are four aircraft of type Iд-80 (created based on the Il-86 wide-body airliner), in the United States - E-4B (on the Boeing 747 platform). Il-96-400 - version widebody airliner Il-96 with PS-90A-1 and increased lifting capacity. There is a version of the Il-96-400T (transport), on the basis of which is currently commissioned by the military developed a number of special aircraft, including "flying tanker".