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A TRACKPADS COLLECTIONAIR ARCHIVE
Soviet Union / Early Cold War

Ilyushin Il-38

A land-based long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft derived from the Il-18 transport.

Archive ID: afm_0000492
Ilyushin Il-38, shown in the selected representative source image.U.S. Navy / Wikimedia Commons · U.S. federal government public domainImage source

A land-based long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft derived from the Il-18 transport.

Primary roleMaritime Combat
First flight1961
Service entry1969
OriginSoviet Union
ManufacturerIlyushin Design Bureau
Documented variants1
Crew modeCrewed
AirframeFixed Wing

Development

Ilyushin Il-38 was developed by Ilyushin Design Bureau in Soviet Union as a maritime-combat aircraft. The family first flew in 1961 and entered service in 1969. Its recorded airframe configuration is fixed wing, with the family classified in the archive as core combat-aircraft scope.

Operational History

Operationally, Ilyushin Il-38 is represented primarily in the maritime-combat aircraft role. The sourced variant records include service with Soviet Naval Aviation. The current structured record does not attach a specific conflict authority to this family; operational context remains limited to sourced service and role data. Role tags attached to the family include anti submarine.

Variants and Lineage

Major variants represented in the structured record include Il-38.

Variants

DesignationTypeRoleRecorded operators
Il-38ProductionMaritime CombatSoviet Naval Aviation

Representative specifications

Configuration-specific profiles are shown separately so values from different variants are not blended into one false “standard” aircraft.

Il-38

Il-38 — C014 baseline technical profile

Crew
7

Powerplant: 4 × Ivchenko AI-20 turboprops

Armament: Torpedoes, mines, depth charges, and sonobuoy systems for maritime patrol.

Sources and further reading

Structured references supporting this aircraft family, variants, specifications, and narrative sections.

  1. The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995 — Osprey Aerospace · Tier 3