1/72 Ilyushin Il-102 Ground attacker

Anigrand Craftswork - 1/72 Ilyushin Il-102 Ground attacker competed with Su-25. In 1967, the Soviet Air Forces drew up a specification for a armoured ground attack aircraft. While Sukhoi designed an all-new single seat Su-25, Ilyushin proposed a modified version of their Il-40 of 1953 under the designation Il-42, which unlike the Sukhoi was a two seat aircraft with a remotely controlled rear gun turret. The design was rejected by the Soviet Air Forces, but Ilyushin decided to continue development as a private venture, renaming the programme Il-102. The Il-102 first prototype flew in September 1982, with a second airframe built for static tests, and carried out 250 test flights until it was grounded in 1984. Although development was abandoned in 1984, the prototype Il-102 was publicly unveiled at the 1992 Mosaeroshow air show at Zhukovsky, being claimed to be available for export. As of 2005, the prototype was mounted on a pedastal and was placed on display at the Gromov Flight Research Institute. [+] More...