Mi-27 air control post
On the basis of the Mi-26, a number of military modifications have been developed. In the mid-80s, the center had been working to create an air command post that has received the designation Mi-27. At the turn of the 1970s. in the Mikhail Leontyevich Mil Design Bureau under the leadership of his successor as General Designer M. Tishchenko, as well as G.P. Smirnova and O.P. Bakhov began the creation of the Mi-26 helicopter, which as a transport was to replace and complement the Mi-6. He made his first flight on December 14, 1977 and again became "the very best in the world", inferior in size and capacity to only one machine of the same famous team - the Mi-12 rotorcraft, which, unfortunately, was not put into mass production for economic reasons.
The new Mi-26 was waiting for a more fortunate fate - it went into a large series and is now in operation in many countries of the world, having worked on all continents. The release of the Mi-26 began in Rostov and at the end of 1980, the lead serial machine was ready. The helicopter began to enter the army, where it received a positive assessment. An increase in the payload to 12 tons in the normal and 20 in the reload variant, as well as increasing the cargo compartment volume to 121 cubic meters versus 80 for the Mi-6, made it possible to use the transport Mi-26 as the basis for many special modifications.
They decided to create on its basis a new “flying headquarters”, but not for the army, but for the whole front. By that time, the size and weight of the equipment, as well as its power consumption had decreased so much that the new army-level VKP could already be considered on the basis of smaller helicopters. Previously, the Mi-9 and Mi-19 types on the meringues of the Mi-8T and Mi-8MT medium helicopters were assigned to the divisions, respectively, and now they could accommodate the army VKP army on board or on the new medium Mi-38 or Mi-40 helicopters level. But the scale of the front required more, both in terms of the capabilities of the equipment and the required number of officers of the control group, so it was necessary for him to take a heavier and, accordingly, expensive and requiring more resources for the operation and repair of the Mi-26.
In the correspondence with the government decision on the base Mi-26 in 1988, the air control post, intended for the control of the military operations of armies of combined arms was built at the Rostov helicopter plant. Development began at the Mikhail Leontyevich Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant in the mid-80s. in addition to the VKP (VzPU) helicopters Mi-6A VKP and Mi-6AYA (Mi-22), see above (some sources indicate that the Mi-27 was supposed to replace the VKP based on the Mi-6, but this is not true) . The purpose of the new helicopter was the same as that of the Mi-22, however, it was intended to control troops at the front (operational direction), while the Mi-6A VKP and Mi-22 served the headquarters of the armies that make up the front (direction).
The VKP (VzPU) Mi-27 helicopter was a modification of the serial Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter (in the version for the USSR Air Force) with differences:
- dismantled all the equipment for loading, transportation, unloading and landing of personnel, equipment, cargo, wounded;
- the loading ramp is locked in the closed position;
- the cargo compartment was divided into two compartments by a partition (in the front there was special communications equipment and its operators, in the back there were officers of the army headquarters command group) and received decorative decoration to create comfortable working conditions in it;
- three communication complexes “Arbalet-10”, “Arbalest-50” and “Lun” with control from a digital computer were installed;
- additional antenna-feeder systems for these communication systems were mounted on the helicopter body;
- the helicopter’s equipment set includes large-sized surface remote antennas and cables for connecting to the stationary and mobile communications equipment of the ground forces;
- the helicopter’s electrical system has been changed taking into account the presence of new consumers and the need to connect them to ground power sources;
- the air conditioning system was modified to ensure comfortable conditions in all compartments of the helicopter (inhabited and special equipment) in any weather conditions;
- filters and a sealing system are installed to protect all helicopter compartments from the effects of weapons of mass destruction.
The design of the Mi-27 is similar to the base helicopter. The cargo compartment of the helicopter was divided by transverse partitions into the interior of the operational group (OG), technical and household compartments. In the exhaust gas cabin there were 6 workplaces, in the next compartment there was a group for managing technical means and organizing communications, and if necessary, additional recreation places could be organized there. In the technical compartment was radio communication equipment. The household equipment included a water supply system, a buffet, a lounge for two people and a toilet.
Two serial helicopters were converted, which were tested in Leningrad and Yevpatoriya. The Mi-27 helicopter was recommended for adoption by the USSR Air Force and for launching into serial production. However, this did not happen due to the collapse of the USSR and the collapse of the state defense order. The design was not adopted by the Air Force. One of these machines then went to the Kharkov Air Force Institute, where it is still used today as a visual aid.
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