A Mil Mi-38T
transport and troop landing helicopter performed its debut flight on November 3
ZHUHAI /China/,
November 8. /TASS/. A Mil Mi-38T transport and troop landing helicopter being
developed on an assignment from Russia’s Defense Ministry performed its debut
flight on November 3, Head of Russian Helicopters Group (part of the state
hi-tech corporation Rostec) Andrei Boginsky said at the Airshow China on
Thursday.
"On Saturday,
the Mi-38 helicopter developed for the military made its first hovering,"
Boginsky said.
The helicopter
prototype was made at the company’s expense on the Defense Ministry’s technical
assignment, he added.
"We have a
contract with the Defense Ministry on the delivery of two Mi-38s next year and
we are just doing the work to implement this contract," he said.
The Russian
Helicopters rotorcraft maker considers increasing the weight of the Mi-38’s
underslung cargo from the current 6 to 8 tonnes, thus expanding the
possibilities of its use for the military, he noted.
Mi-38T helicopter
The Mi-38 medium
multipurpose helicopter holds a niche between the Mi-8 and the heavy Mi-26
chopper and can be used to transport cargoes and passengers. It can be employed
as a search-and-rescue rotorcraft and for flights over the water. The Mi-38T
(transport and troop landing) is a military version of the Mi-38.
The helicopter in its
military configuration is equipped with new highly efficient
domestically-produced TV-7-117V engines and an integrated digital pilot
navigation system.
Russian Helicopters
Group CEO Andrei Boginsky earlier said that the company planned to deliver the
first Mi-38T helicopters to the Army in 2019.
Source: ITAR-TASS
08-11-2018
