August 29, 2007: Venezuela is trying to buy 98 Ilyushin-114 aircraft from Russia. The Ilyushin-114 is a twin engine, turboprop aircraft with a max take-off weight of 25 tons. It can carry up to 64 passengers, or 6.5 tons of cargo. Cruising speed is 500 kilometers an hour, and it can stay in the air up to three hours, carrying a full load. With a lighter load, it can be used for maritime reconnaissance, and stay aloft for over five hours per sortie. The Ilyushin-114 was developed in the late 1990s, to replace the 40 year old Yak-40 (a tri-jet aircraft that was much less efficient, and costlier to operate). The Ilyushin-114 is much better suited to military uses, as it can land on shorter air fields, and operate in harsher conditions. Russia has officially denied the sale, indicating that negotiations are still underway. Such a deal would be worth over $2 billion to Russian manufacturers.