Mi-38 Medium Multipurpose Helicopter - Program
Development of the Mi-38 begun in 1986 to replace the aging fleet of Mi-8s and Mi-17s, currently in civilian and military service. A tabletop model of the Mi-38 was first revealed at the 1989 Paris airshow. The Kazan Helicopter Plant (KHP), Moscow Mil Helicopter Plants (MHZ), St. Petersburg's engine manufacturer Klimov and Eurocopter established the Euromil JSCs on an equal basis in 1994 with the purpose of developing the Mi-38.
In 1996, Klimov left the project without creating a Russian engine for the Mi-38. Its shares of Euromil were split equally among the three remaining partners. In 1998 the Russian government forced the French company to decrease its stake in Euromil Eurocopter's package, since foreign companies can have only up to 25% shares in Russian aerospace companies, and to remove its representatives from the company's board of directors. That resulted in the withdrawal of Eurocopter from the program.
In 1999 the MVZ MIL design bureau, Kazan Helicopter Plant, Eurocopter and Euromil (a joint venture between Mil and Eurocopter) signed two memoranda covering the development and production of the Mi-38 multipurpose helicopter. In 2003 KHP and MHZ JSC bought out the French-German Eurocopter share, though Eurocopter would continue to participate in the project on developing the Mi-38 on contractual basis. The concern will be delivering avionics for the helicopter.
In late 2003, Euromil carried out the initial flight Mi-38 tests in Kazan. The first flight test phase with this first prototype was completed by the end of 2005.
In January 2005, France's Eurocopter officially announced that it was withdrawing from the program to build the Mi-38 helicopter. Eurocopter terminated the agreement to develop and produce the utility Mil Mi-38 helicopter jointly with Russia, as legal difficulties regarding industrial property rights could not be resolved.
It took specialists about 20 years to develop the new up-to-date Mi-38 chopper. The project of the helicopter is estimated at $800 million. A half of the sum had been already spent by 2004. The helicopter-making factory planned to produce 10-12 machines a year. Therefore, the company will have its money back only after the year 2015. The end price of one aircraft is not known yet, although manufacturers say that it will be a lot lower as opposed to foreign analogs. There were several statements that the Mi-38 would cost 2.5 times more than the Mi-8, but about two times less than its foreign competitors: the Sikorsky S-92 and the EH-101. Since a new Mi-8MTV costs $4.5-5 million and an EH-101's price tag is $20-25 million, the Mi-38 price can be judged to be about $13-15 million.
The flights, which took place on December 22 and 23, 2003 commemorated successful completion of the design stage and preliminary ground tests of the helicopter. Then the Mi-38 entered the stage of preliminary production flight tests at Kazan Helicopter Plant test flight complex. From March, 2004, flights of the helicopter became systematic. All the systems worked up properly and on October 30, 2004 the Mi-38 operational model made its 750-kilometer maiden flight from Kazan to Moscow. Since that production flight program tests are in full swing at the test-flight complex of Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, JSC, and Kazan Helicopter Plant, JSC, is busy with building new Mi-38 prototypes, which will have to undergo production and state tests on completing the assembly works. In August, 2005 the Mi-38 was a success at the International Air Show MAKS-2006 in Zhukovsky city and evoked strong interest of participants and guests.
Testing the Mi-38 helicopter high aircraft performance results have been achieved within the air speed range of horizontal flight of up to 300 km. Flight tests of the helicopter will be continued and their range expanded after construction of two more prototypes (OP-2 and OP-3). Certification is planned to be completed by 2009.
The Kazan-based factory invested about $125 million in the project - the costs were expected to be compensated after 80-90 of new choppers are sold. According to market researches, the potential market of the Mi-38 helicopter is estimated at 300-350 choppers. Russian buyers will acquire 200 machines, and every third chopper will be exported. The general director of the company believes that the Mi-38 will be a lot cheaper than its foreign analogs - Italian-British EH-101 (it costs $25-27 million), and the US's Sikorsky S-92 ($20-22 million).
As of 2007 the completion of the project on developing the Mi-38 was estimated to demand investments generally amounting to another $200-250 mln. By now the projects costs are estimated as $500 mln., from which KHP, according to its head, has paid more than $130 mln.
On 15 August 2007 ShipbuildingRu reported that serial manufacturing of the heavy helicopter Mi-38 at Kazan Helicopter Plant had been postponed from 2007 to 2009. It was confirmed by the General Designer of Moscow Helicopter Plant Alexey Samusenko. The reason of the delay was the prolonged certification tests and not completed negotiations with the Canadian P&W and some Russian enterprises on establishing in the Russian Federation a license manufacture of the engines for the new helicopter. Assistant to the Deputy General Director of the Kazan enterprise Michael Kostrov mentioned that serial manufacturing may be delayed even till 2010.
In 2008 General Director of the plant, Vadim Ligay said Kazan Helicopter Plant will be able to start the serial production of multipurpose Mi-38 helicopters at the end of 2011.
In May 2008 Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) signed a memorandum of understanding with Helicopters of Russia to supply PW127TS engines for the Mi-38 utility helicopter. Pratt & Whitney Canada, based in Longueuil, Quebec, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines powering business, general aviation and regional aircraft and helicopters. Under the terms of the deal P&WC will develop and certificate a turboshaft version of the PW127 for the twin-engine Mi-38 in partnership with the Ufa Engine Industrial Association (Umpo) and the Central Institute of Aviation Motors. Russian certification of the PW127TS was planned for 2011, while the Mi-38 entry into service was scheduled for 2012.
A second prototype of the medium helicopter Mi-38 (OP-2) will within this year be constructed by the Kazan Helicopter Plant, cites the Oboronprom's press service the Russian Helicopters General Director Andrey Shibitov as saying, according to "Tatar-inform" agency on May 19 2008. Mt Shibitov told the Rosbalt news agency, that the nearly one-year delay with the construction was caused by several factors. "For several years, there had been a significant budget funding gap in the Mi-38's R&D programme," he noted. "Besides, some delay was caused by the withdrawal from the Eurocopter European programme but for the last three years, the R&D works on building the Mi-38 have been performed strictly according to the schedule and receive full funding as is stipulated by the project's state support programme." According to the Russian Helicopters General Director, the construction of the second prototype was underway and will be continued, the helicopter's configuration will be in compliance with the type's main design to be submitted for certification." As of today, the certain delay is accounted for by the necessity to certify the engine, manufactured by one of the Mi-38 project's participants Pratt Whitney, so the programme's deadline is dependent on the engine's availability," Mr Shibitov specified. "In the near term, an agreement on the Mi-38's R&D second phase is to be signed. That agreement is to provide conditions for further implementation of the program."
On 21 May 2009 Georgy Sinelshchikov, general director of the Moscow Helicopter Plant, stated that the production of the new Mi-38 transport helicopter would be delayed until 2014 due to the expected withdrawal of a Canadian engine maker from the project. Until recently the implementation of the project had been held back by Pratt & Whitney, which failed to fulfill its obligations under the 2008 agreement apparently due to the U.S. embargo on sales of dual-purpose equipment to Russia, the official said. "We are planning to install the new Russian-made TV7-117V engine on Mi-38 helicopters instead," Sinelshchikov said.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
