The iilyushin-76 Transport (NATO code name ad Candid), was designed and developed by the former llyushin Aero Design Bereau in the 1960s. It is a middle range military cum civilian heavy transport with four turbojet engines. Its maiden test flight was conducted in March 1971 and it was enlisted into the former Soviet Air Force service in 1975. Since then, the Iiyushin-76 has been the main stay of air transport capability for the former Soviet Union as well as the present Russian Air Force. The Iiyushin-76 is well-known for its long range non-stop flight, heavy loading and fast speed capabilities. Also, the Iiyushin-76 can hold 140 fully armed soldiers or 125 fully armed air force attack soldiers. With the consideration for quick take-off at cold areas and on incompleted runways, the fuselage was renforced and the rear doors can open during flight to drop cargoes. Additionally, two machine guns are also installed at the rear fuselage. As a civilian aircraft from 1975 to 1994, over 800 Iiyushin-76s were produced and even up to now there are about 50 Iiyushin-76 transport aircrafts being produced every year. The Iiyushin-76 transport aircraft are exported to a number of countries including India, Czech, Poland, Iraq, Libya, Afganistan, Cuba and China. Finally, the Iiyushin-76 transport also participated in the former Soviet-Ethiopian and Soviet-Afganistan wars.