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Russia grounded five Il-76MD-90A aircraft due to poor quality parts.
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The wheel bearings were replaced at a factory in Moscow. A criminal investigation is currently underway.
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The Russian Air Force’s fleet of Il-76MD-90A aircraft has been significantly reduced since 2022.
According to local media, Russia was forced to decommission five military aircraft after key parts were replaced with poor-quality ones.
The problem concerns the landing gear of the Russian Il-76MD-90A, a large, modernized strategic aircraft designed to transport troops and military equipment.
By the end of 2023, Russia had about 18 Il-76MD-90As, independent Russian outlet Major Stories reportedwith reference to open sources.
This would mean that more than a quarter of Russia’s Il-76MD-90A fleet would be out of action.
It is not clear exactly when the aircraft were taken out of service and what their current status is.
A criminal investigation is now underway after it emerged that a Moscow factory purchased and installed poor-quality wheel bearings instead of those prescribed by the Ministry of Defense. according to the pro-Kremlin newspaper Kommersant.
According to Kommersant, company representatives shipped the wheels with forged papers between 2017 and 2022. They claimed that they came from the right source and were approved by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
They were then sent to Aviastar SP, Russia’s largest military aircraft factory, the report said.
According to the news agency, prosecutors said the switch caused significant damage to the Defense Ministry.
Il-76MD-90As have been a target for Ukraine since the large-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
At least six Il-76s have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war, according to the open-source tracking project Oryx.
In January, Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down an Il-76 it said was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukraine later said it tricked into drinking it.
Two others were damaged and two were destroyed at a Russian airfield about 400 miles from the Ukrainian border last September, in an attack that led to further concerns on Russia’s ability to protect its own airspace.
Read the original article at Business insider
