Ilyushin Il-20M

what is it?

The Ilyushin Il-20M (Russian: Ильюшин Ил-20М, NATO reporting name: "Coot-A") is a COMINT/ELINT surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft, powered by four turboprop engines. It is a development of the Ilyushin Il-18. It was first observed by NATO in 1978.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 turboprops · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 37.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 675 km/htop speed
• range 6,200 kmwithout refuelling
• size 64 tmax take-off weight
• built 20made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 58 years ago, in 1968.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 37.4 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 6,200 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1968-03-21

introduced

1969

status

still flying

number built

20

role

surveillance aircraft

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Ilyushin

engines

4× AI-20M

crew

13

length

35.9 m

wingspan

37.4 m

height

10.2 m

max take-off weight

64 t

top speed

675 km/h

cruise speed

620 km/h

range

6,200 km

ceiling

10,000 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family