48 | Flight International | 18-31 August 2015 flightglobal.com
RUSSIA
SPECIAL REPORT
❯❯ successor to the Mi-6 with a MTOW of
42.5t and payload capability of 8-12t, of which
926 examples were built and which stayed in
operation from 1963 to 2004. Its derivative Mi-
10K survives, but a handful of those “flying
cranes” suffer from a shortage of tail rotors
made of chemically-reinforced wood.
WIDE SPECTRUM
According to Russian Helicopters, the 8 May
agreement allows for the design work on the
new machine to start in earnest, and for pro-
duction preparations to commence. Among a
mutually-agreed set of requirements for the
new rotorcraft are an ability to operate
around-the-clock in a hot-and-high environ-
ment, and in all weathers. “The AHL shall be
able to serve in a wide spectrum of roles, in-
cluding transportation, evacuation, fire-fight-
ing,” Russian Helicopters says. It is meant to
be produced in China, and win “over 200 or-
ders” with shipments through to 2040.
Even though the partners picture the project
as being civilian, it is hard to believe that Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army would not also sign up.
Mikheyev, who applied his signature to the 8
May documents, says: “The Chinese helicopter
market is one of the fastest growing ones in the
world. We are interested in long-term, compre-
hensive relations of a strategic nature with
China for the sake of mutually beneficial co-op-
eration in the field of helicopter development
and production.
“It is very important that the resulting heavy
helicopter has gained approval from the side of
governments of our both countries.”
On the opening day of the HeliRussia show
in May, Mikheyev told the media that Russian
Helicopters and AVIC have formed prelimi-
nary technical requirements, and “continue to
work jointly on defining technical parame-
ters” of their new product. The two are set to
sign a general contract on the project later this
year. There is a mutually-agreed “roadmap”
for further actions. Mikheyev says: “Partici-
pants have been named, among them Russian
and Chinese companies, as well as Ukraine’s
Motor Sich with an engine.” However,
Ukrainian officials were quick to deny Motor
Sich the right to take part in this project.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Aviadvigatel design
house signalled its intent to develop a brand-
new engine for the helicopter. It would use the
gas-generator developed for the PD-14, a 14t-
class turbofan now undergoing bench trials,
and destined for the Irkut MC-21 next-genera-
tion narrowbody airliner. The new engine is
known as the PD-12V.
The lion’s share of Russian Helicopters’ sales
are of medium rotorcraft: the Mi-24/35, Mi-28
and Ka-50/52 for the army, the Ka-27/28/31 for
the navy, the Ka-32 for fire-fighters and timber-loggers, and the Mi-8/17 family for a wide vari-
ety of military and civilian applications.
The Mi-8/17 family has accounted for more
than half of shipments in the past several
years, at some 150-200 units annually.
An important achievement for Kamov de-
signs in the civil domain has been a frame-
work contract with China for 20 Ka-
32A11BCs, with four shipments in 2014.
The 12t Mi-8, which first flew in 1961 and
entered service four years later, and boasts the
world’s most mass-produced twin-engined,
turbine-powered helicopter with over 12,000
copies, is still economically attractive.LOCAL DEMAND
According to Angara, a prominent commer-
cial operator of Eastern Siberia with 13 Mi-8s,
these TV-2-117-powered machines are popu-
lar with local customers, including tourist op-
erators and oil and gas companies.
Even though the Mi-8T is considered “under-
powered” by modern standards, in the Siberian
environment it provides the least expensive
means of transportation for a group of 15-20
people with their weekly supplies, such as a
shift of workers for an oil derrick or a drilling rig.
Angara also operates a pair of Mi-8MTVs
with high-power TV3-117s (2,000-2,200shp
compared to 1,500shp for the TV2-117), but
finds their services more difficult to sell, as the
market is used to the cheap but capable Mi-8T.
“We have been looking for a suitable replace-
ment for the long-serving Mi-8, but the list-pric-
es for Russian Helicopters’ newly-built rotor-
craft are too high. The factory in Ulan-Ude
produces a superb Mi-171, but because of the
high price, its flight hour comes with a tariff
which our clients are not yet ready to accept”,
says Angara director Anatoly Yurtaev.
Meanwhile, there are many other markets in
the world where the Mi-17’s services are in de-
mand. According to Atlas Taxi Aereo, in the
Brazilian environment the Mi-171A1 demon-
strates four times higher productivity than the
Sikorsky S-76A. ■Russian HelicoptersRussian HelicoptersIndia has selected the Ka-226T light scout, with local assembly being negotiated
The medium multirole
Mi-171A2 was first
seen at MAKS 2013