For the characteristic shape of the glazing of the navigator's cockpit, this plane was nicknamed "smile," but in Afghanistan it was he who most often had to work as a "black tulip." The Afghan war became the "finest hour" of the Il-76, which proved its highest effectiveness: in ten years of hostilities, only two of these vehicles were lost, and the incredible escape of our pilots from Afghan captivity (this story is now known throughout the country thanks to the sensational film "Kandahar") became possible only thanks to the phenomenal flight data of their "silt," which did the impossible, taking off after a record short run. The first domestic military transport aircraft with turbojet engines, the Il-76 has remained in service for more than a quarter of a century, becoming famous for its unsurpassed reliability and unpretentiousness and is still considered one of the best vehicles of this class. During this time, about 1000 "silts" of various modifications were produced - in addition to military and civilian transport workers, an early warning and A-50 control aircraft, an Il-78 tanker, a Scalpel hospital aircraft, a laser weapon carrier A-60 and others were created on the basis of the Il-76.