Russian Navy To Get Two More IL-38N Anti-Submarine Aircraft

The Russian Navy will receive two more IL-38N Novella anti-submarine aircraft in November this year, the Deputy General Director of Ilyushin Aviation complex Yuri Yudin said.

Under a contract with the Defense Ministry, Ilyushin is set to give the Russian Navy 28 units of IL-38N by 2020, Yudin was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

The navy currently operates five IL-38N aircraft.

The anti-submarine Ilyushin Il-38 aircraft is designed to hunt down and destroy enemy submarines. The Il-38N is equipped with the cutting-edge search and aiming system called Novella. This system is capable of detecting airborne targets at a distance of 90 kilometers, the surface at a distance of 320 kilometers. The aircraft can simultaneously track 32 targets of different types.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the Novella system includes magnetometric equipment, thermal and optical devices of high resolution, the latest means of electronic intelligence, sensors, gravitational anomalies, and other high-tech equipment.

Moreover, the Il-38N is armed with cruise missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes and depth charges. The aircraft can carry a payload of up to five tons.

The press service of the Western Military District said that the flight tests of the IL-38 Novella will be held at a military airfield in Pushkin, near St. Petersburg.