MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. New airlifter Ilyushin-76MD-90A has completed flight testing and is now getting prepared for a handover to a research and development group in the southern Russian city of Taganrog where a remote radar tracking aircraft will be created on its basis.

TASS received the information at the press service of Aviastar-SP aviation factory in the city of Ulyanovsk in the middle reach of the Volga River.

Ilyushin-76MD-90A is also known as Ilyushin-476. Once remodeled into the radar surveillance plane, it will have the model name A-100 and its testing is due to begin in 2017.

Iyushin-76MD-90A is a profoundly overhauled version world-famous airlifter Ilyushin-76 that was put into operation in the Air Force and at the Soviet Union’s only airline, Aeroflot, back in the 1970’s.

The handover of the first jet in the new family is expected to take place before the end of this month. All in all, the Russian Defence Ministry has ordered 40 new airlifters and sources put the value of the supplies agreement at 140 billion rubles /$ 3.1 billion/.