The Defense Ministry and the United Aircraft Corporation will sign a contract on the development of the Il-112V light transport plane next year, a deputy defense minister said Friday.
The development of the twin turboprop aircraft, designed to carry six tons of cargo to a range of 1,000 kilometers, was canceled in 2011 under former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, but his successor Sergei Shoigu reportedly approved the revival of the Il-112 program earlier this year.
Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said the Il-112 development contract, worth 7.9 billion rubles ($240 million), had been included in the state defense order for 2014.
"We will sign a contract on series production of the aircraft after this work is completed," Borisov said. The plans were for at least several dozen aircraft, he added. "The first deliveries have been scheduled for 2017," he said.
