Russian Il-96 now fitted with MANPADS countermeasures

[Zarvan]

An Ilyushin Il-96-300 airliner operated by Russia's Special Air Group fitted with a countermeasures suite that is probably the LSZ-100 laser defence system. Source: Piotr Butowski

A Russian Ilyushin Il-96-300 wide-body passenger aircraft has been seen fitted with a system to protect against man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) for the first time.

Registered as RA-96022, the aircraft is operated as a VIP transport by Russia's Special Air Group (SLO Rossiya) and was photographed in April. It is the newest Il-96 and first flew on 23 November 2015.

It now has four packages mounted beneath its fuselage, two at the front and two at the rear, each comprising two warning sensors (one forward- and one aft-looking) and one directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) head.

The front and rear packages differ, with the latter having square windows, which may suggest they are L140 Otklik laser warning devices. The windows in the front blocks are round, probably for L370-2 ultraviolet warning sensors. The DIRCM jammer is most likely the LSZ100-1, meaning that the entire system is the LSZ100. LSZ stands for lazernaya sistema zashchity (laser defence system).

Components of the system, including the LSZ100-1 jammer and L370-2 missile warning sensors, were displayed during the MAKS air show in August 2015.

The system was designed by NII Ekran to protect large military and commercial aircraft against MANPADS attacks. It is a derivative of the L370 Vitebsk system that is commonly used in various configurations on new Russian military helicopters and is now being exported under the name President-S.

The prototype of the LSZ100 system was tested during 2012-2013 on the Tu-214 RA-64505 that is also operated by SLO Rossiya. That version featured only two packages under the rear of the fuselage, each comprising two warning sensors and one jammer of a slightly different shape than those currently installed on the Il-96-300.

It is known that the Tupolev Company placed an order in June 2015 for two LSZ100 systems, which were to be delivered to the Kazan plant in March and October 2016, presumably for Tu-214 airliners.

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