World's heaviest lifting helicopter-Russian Mi-26T Russian Helicopters and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) have signed ...
 |
| World's heaviest lifting helicopter-Russian Mi-26T |
The agreement was signed at the Moscow Kremlin on Wednesday, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping by the CEO of Russian Helicopters, Alexander Mikheev, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AVIC, Lin Zuoming.
Both companies will work on all areas of development and preparation to launch serial production of the new rotorcraft, named the Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter.
The AHL will have a take-off weight of 38 tons, and will be able to carry 10 tons of cargo inside the cabin or 15 tons on an external sling.
The helicopter will be designed to operate round-the-clock in hot climates, mountainous terrain and all weather conditions, and will be able to fly a highly varied range of missions from transportation to medevac, firefighting.
The demand for the AHL helicopter is estimated to exceed 200 in China by 2040.
As of now Russian Helicopters and AVIC have drawn up the preliminary technical specifications of AHL and are working to finalise it. A general contract will be signed later this year.
Russian Helicopters is a world leader in heavy and medium lift helicopters. It designed the legendary Mi-17/8 series and the world's heaviest lifting Mi-26 helicopters. The Mi-17 has a 4 tonne payload capacity, while the Mi-26 can carry a 20 tonne payload.
China has not developed an indigenous helicopter. All its helicopter programs are either license built or copies of Russian and European designs.
