# Ilyushin Il-38 (Ил-38)

**Ilyushin Il-38** (Ил-38; [NATO reporting name](https://www.edgepedia.org/nato-reporting-name) "May") is a Soviet four-engine turboprop maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft developed by the Ilyushin design bureau from the Il-18 airliner, in service with the Soviet and Russian navies since 1968 and with the [Indian Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-navy) from 1977 until 2023.<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244/pdf/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244.pdf)</sup> It is the Soviet counterpart to the American P-3 Orion, which was likewise derived from a civilian airliner, the [Lockheed L-188 Electra](https://www.edgepedia.org/lockheed-l-188-electra).<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Medium-range shore-based maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup> |
| Origin | Ilyushin design bureau, derived from the Il-18D airliner; maiden flight 27 September 1961<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup> |
| Production | 65 aircraft built from 1967 to 1972, of which 5 were exported to India<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup> |
| Powerplant | Four AI-20M turboprops of 4,250 hp each; maximum speed 650 km/h; range 6,200 km<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup> |
| Dimensions | Length 39.60 m, height 10.16 m, wing span 37.42 m, wing area 140 m²; maximum take-off weight 65,500 kg<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup> |
| Crew and sensors | Crew of 7; Berkut ASW system with sonobuoys and an APM-60 or APM-73 magnetometer<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup> |
| Indian service | INAS 315 commissioned 1 October 1977; Il-38SD retired 31 October 2023 after 46 years<sup>[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1973626&lang=2&reg=48)</sup> |
| Russian fleet | More than 20 Il-38s remain in Russian Naval Aviation; eight converted to Il-38N standard in 2012-16<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup> |

## Design and development

The Il-38 began with a June 1960 Soviet government decision to develop a long-range anti-submarine aircraft based on the Il-18 passenger transport, equipped with the Berkut radiogydroacoustic search system.<sup>[6](https://aviation21.ru/55-let-nazad-vypolnil-pervyj-polyot-prototip-protivolodochnogo-samolyota-il-38/)</sup> The prototype flew on 27 September 1961, and the type was displayed publicly at the 1961 Aviation Day flypast at Tushino Airport, Moscow.<sup>[1](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1978_03.pdf)</sup> NATO assigned the reporting name "May" in 1964.<sup>[8](https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/2025/iliouchine-il-38-otan-may)</sup>

The airframe combines the Il-18's wings, tail, engines, and landing gear with a redesigned fuselage in which the wings are placed further forward, only the forward section is pressurized, and two internal weapons bays are provided forward and aft of the wing carry-through structure.<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://secure.afa.org/joinafa/AFMag2015/AFMag0715/files/basic-html/page76.html)</sup> A bulbous underfuselage radome houses the Berkut search radar, and a tail "stinger" carries the magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), which senses disturbances in the [Earth's magnetic field](https://www.edgepedia.org/earths-magnetic-field) caused by large metallic objects such as submarines.<sup>[9](https://secure.afa.org/joinafa/AFMag2015/AFMag0715/files/basic-html/page76.html)</sup>

Serial production ran from 1967 to 1972 at the Znamya Truda Machine-building Plant in Moscow, producing 65 aircraft.<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[10](https://www.redstar.gr/ru/letatelnye-aparaty-rossii/voennaya-aviatsiya/okb-ilyushina/il-38-may-patrulnyj-protivolodocnyj-samolet.html)</sup> The aircraft was formally adopted by the [Soviet Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/soviet-navy) on 17 January 1969, twelve years after the development task was issued, because the Berkut system itself took years to mature.<sup>[11](https://www.globalsecurity.org.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/il-38.htm)</sup>

## Sensors and armament

Submarine detection rests on the Berkut-38 processing system, an APM-60 or APM-73 magnetometer, and sonobuoys dropped from the aircraft: up to 144 RGB-1 radio beacons, 10 RGB-2 passive sonobuoys, and RGB-3 or RGB-16 sonobuoys with active or passive sonar.<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup> The three sonobuoy types divided the work: passive non-directional RGB-1 provided initial contact, passive directional RGB-2 gave a bearing, and passive-active directional RGB-3 gave both bearing and range.<sup>[12](https://en.topwar.ru/290623-65-let-pervomu-poletu-kak-il38-sem-s-lishnim-let-zhdal-berkut-i-chto-iz-jetogo-vyshlo.html)</sup>

The internal bomb bay carries depth charges, naval bombs, mines, and torpedoes including the 450 mm AT-1 and 533 mm AT-2, with a normal weapon load of 5.4 t and a maximum of 8.4 t.<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup> The aircraft can also lay minefields and perform search and rescue.<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup>

## Indian Navy service

India bought five Il-38s, the only export customer. The first three aircraft were ferried to Dabolim, Goa, arriving on 2 September 1977, and Naval Air Squadron 315 (INAS 315, the "Winged Stallions") was commissioned there on 1 October 1977; two more aircraft joined later, giving the squadron five aircraft by 1983.<sup>[13](https://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/202402061211073794.pdf)</sup>

**Weapons and upgrades.** Starting in April 1990, under project Yaduvansh, the Navy and Hindustan Aeronautics integrated the British BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missile with the Il-38, using fuselage pylons.<sup>[13](https://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/202402061211073794.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup> The Sea Dragon suite's synthetic aperture radar, infrared and low-light television sensors, and ESM fit allowed the aircraft to search for small boats and personnel in creeks and deltas.<sup>[14](https://www.idsa.in/system/files/jds_7_1_RikeeshSharma.pdf)</sup>

The Indian Navy decommissioned the last of its Il-38SDs on 31 October 2023 at INS Hansa, Dabolim, after 46 years of service, by which time the Boeing P-8I had taken over the long-range maritime patrol role.<sup>[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1973626&lang=2&reg=48)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/202402061211073794.pdf)</sup> In its final years the type integrated indigenous Sahayak air-droppable containers for logistics support at sea and served as a torpedo trial platform, and it appeared in the 2023 [Republic Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/republic-day) flypast in New Delhi.<sup>[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1973626&lang=2&reg=48)</sup> Two airframes are preserved at the National Maritime Heritage Museum in Lothal, Gujarat, and at Nipani in [Karnataka](https://www.edgepedia.org/karnataka).<sup>[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1973626&lang=2&reg=48)</sup>

## Russian service and the Novella upgrade

In Soviet service between 1969 and 1981 the Il-38 fleet flew 4,095 missions totaling 24,570 flight hours and tracked 172 foreign submarines.<sup>[8](https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/2025/iliouchine-il-38-otan-may)</sup> The aircraft's mission is to protect Russian ballistic-missile submarines against attack, and Il-38s are based with the Northern and Pacific Fleets.<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244/pdf/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244.pdf)</sup>

**Il-38N.** The Russian upgrade, developed from 2001, replaces the Berkut system with the digital Novella-P-38 mission system, whose box fairing over the forward fuselage houses electronic support measures sensors.<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[15](https://defence24.pl/sily-zbrojne/rusza-seryjna-modernizacja-patrolowych-ilow-38)</sup> The Novella fit includes a C- and I-band search radar able to detect a naval target at 320 km, a submarine at 35 km, and an aircraft at 90 km, new sonobuoy processing, a thermal imager, and an ELINT station.<sup>[16](https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/8634/iliouchine-il-38n)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2012/russia-120305-rianovosti07.htm)</sup> The Northern Fleet accepted its first Il-38N in March 2012, and upgraded aircraft entered Pacific Fleet service at Yelizovo and Nikolayevka in 2015.<sup>[17](https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2012/russia-120305-rianovosti07.htm)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[18](https://vpk.name/news/141010_morskaya_aviaciya_tof_uspeshno_osvoila_modernizirovannyi_protivolodochnyi_samolet_il-38n.html)</sup> Despite plans to modernize the whole fleet, upgrades stopped after eight conversions in 2012-16; a 2019 announcement of a new mission system was not followed by published results.<sup>[4](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)</sup> FlightGlobal's 2025 inventory lists 28 Il-38s with [Russian Naval Aviation](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-naval-aviation).<sup>[19](https://www.flightglobal.com/download?ac=106507&pubDate=20250926)</sup>

The type remains active on front lines. In September 2024 a Russian Il-38 breached Japanese airspace above Rebun Island off Hokkaido for up to a minute in three instances during a five-hour flight; Japanese F-15s and F-35s used flares against it for the first time after it ignored warnings.<sup>[20](https://apnews.com/article/cd3b8071ec72a65f221662f4aed52831)</sup>

## Comparison with the P-3 Orion

The Il-38 and the P-3 Orion follow the same recipe, a maritime patrol aircraft built on a 1950s turboprop airliner, and they resemble each other closely in layout.<sup>[7](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1978_03.pdf)</sup> Soviet analysis in the late 1970s concluded that the Il-38 was less capable than the P-3, mainly because of the limited quality of the RGB-1 sonobuoys.<sup>[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)</sup> Western assessments reached similar conclusions, noting that the Il-38 was produced in relatively small numbers, about 100 by one 1989 count, and appeared less effective in ASW than the P-3 and other Western maritime patrol aircraft.<sup>[21](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1989/september/soviet-navy)</sup> The P-3 entered service in 1962, five years before the Il-38.<sup>[22](https://www.globalmilitary.net/compare/aircraft/il-38-may-vs-p3-orion/)</sup>

## References

1. [Il-38 May Patrol anti-submarine aircraft, Red Star](https://www.redstar.gr/en/russian-aerial-means/aircraft/ilyushin/il-38-may-patrol-anti-submarine-aircraft.html)
2. [Russian Naval Aviation: IL-38 MAY Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Government Publishing Office](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244/pdf/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-gpo64244.pdf)
3. [Ilyushin Il-38, Weaponsystems.net](https://weaponsystems.net/system/436-Ilyushin%20Il-38)
4. [How Russia Is Modernizing Its Naval Aviation Fleet, Aviation Week (Piotr Butowski)](https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/how-russia-modernizing-its-naval-aviation-fleet)
5. [Indian Navy Bids Farewell to IL-38 SD Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Press Information Bureau, 31 October 2023](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1973626&lang=2&reg=48)
6. [55 лет назад выполнил первый полёт прототип противолодочного самолёта Ил-38, Авиация России](https://aviation21.ru/55-let-nazad-vypolnil-pervyj-polyot-prototip-protivolodochnogo-samolyota-il-38/)
7. [Soviet Aerospace Almanac, Air Force Magazine, March 1978](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1978_03.pdf)
8. [Iliouchine Il-38 (OTAN : May), Aviations Militaires](https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/2025/iliouchine-il-38-otan-may)
9. [Il-38, Air Force Magazine, July 2015](https://secure.afa.org/joinafa/AFMag2015/AFMag0715/files/basic-html/page76.html)
10. [Ил-38 May Патрульный противолодочный самолет, Red Star (Russian edition)](https://www.redstar.gr/ru/letatelnye-aparaty-rossii/voennaya-aviatsiya/okb-ilyushina/il-38-may-patrulnyj-protivolodocnyj-samolet.html)
11. [Il-38 May, GlobalSecurity.org](https://www.globalsecurity.org.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/il-38.htm)
12. [65 years since its first flight: How the Il-38 waited more than seven years for the Berkut, Top War](https://en.topwar.ru/290623-65-let-pervomu-poletu-kak-il38-sem-s-lishnim-let-zhdal-berkut-i-chto-iz-jetogo-vyshlo.html)
13. [Indian Navy bids farewell to Il-38SD LRMPA, Vayu Aerospace](https://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/202402061211073794.pdf)
14. [Rikeesh Sharma, Transformation of Indian Naval Aviation, Journal of Defence Studies, IDSA](https://www.idsa.in/system/files/jds_7_1_RikeeshSharma.pdf)
15. [Rusza seryjna modernizacja patrolowych Iłów-38, Defence24](https://defence24.pl/sily-zbrojne/rusza-seryjna-modernizacja-patrolowych-ilow-38)
16. [Iliouchine Il-38N, Aviations Militaires](https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/8634/iliouchine-il-38n)
17. [Northern Fleet Gets Modernized Anti-Submarine Plane, RIA Novosti via GlobalSecurity.org](https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2012/russia-120305-rianovosti07.htm)
18. [Морская авиация ТОФ успешно освоила модернизированный противолодочный самолет Ил-38Н, ВПК.name](https://vpk.name/news/141010_morskaya_aviaciya_tof_uspeshno_osvoila_modernizirovannyi_protivolodochnyi_samolet_il-38n.html)
19. [World Air Forces inventory, FlightGlobal](https://www.flightglobal.com/download?ac=106507&pubDate=20250926)
20. [Japanese warplanes use flares to warn a Russian spy plane to leave airspace, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/cd3b8071ec72a65f221662f4aed52831)
21. [Norman Polmar, The Soviet Navy, Proceedings, September 1989](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1989/september/soviet-navy)
22. [Il-38 May vs P-3 Orion: Aircraft Full Comparison, Global Military](https://www.globalmilitary.net/compare/aircraft/il-38-may-vs-p3-orion/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Aviation › Military aviation › Naval aviation › Maritime patrol and anti-submarine aviation › Maritime patrol aircraft types*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license