Russian helicopters. The crisis is not over

230 companies, including 51 foreign companies from 20 countries of the world, took part in the exhibition at the Crocus Center exhibition center near Moscow.

Every year in May, at the Helirussia exhibition in Moscow, Russians take stock of the situation in their helicopter industry. And the situation is bad. Output has fallen for the fourth year in a row and there is no sign that it should continue to improve. Last year, all aircraft factories in Russia produced 189 helicopters, which is 11% less than in - also a crisis year - 2015; details on individual plants were not disclosed. Director General of Russian Helicopters Andrey Boginsky promised that in 2017 production will increase to 220 helicopters. 230 companies, including 51 foreign companies from 20 countries of the world, took part in the exhibition at the Crocus Center exhibition center near Moscow.

The largest collapse in 2016 affected the basic products of the Russian industry - the Mi-8 transport helicopter manufactured by the Kazan Helicopter Plant (KVZ) and the Ulan-Uden Aviation Plant (UUAZ). The volume of production of Mi-8 in 2016 can be estimated from the income received by these plants; figures in pieces are not published. Kazan Kazan Helicopter Plant earned 2016 billion rubles in 25,3, which is half as much as a year earlier (49,1 billion). The plant in Ulan-Ude earned 30,6 billion rubles against 50,8 billion a year earlier. Keep in mind that 2015 was also a bad year. Thus, it can be assumed that about 2016 Mi-100 helicopters of all modifications were produced in 8, compared to about 150 in 2015 and about 200 in previous years. To make matters worse, all the major Mi-8 contracts have already been completed or will soon be completed, and the new contracts involve a much smaller number of helicopters.

Manufacturers of combat helicopters Mi-28N and Mi-35M in Rostov and Ka-52 in Arsenyev feel much better. Both plants are implementing their first major foreign contracts; they also have pending contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. The Rostvertol plant in Rostov-on-Don earned 84,3 billion rubles in 2016 against 56,8 billion rubles in 2015; Progress in Arsenyevo brought in revenue of 11,7 billion rubles, exactly the same as a year earlier. In total, Rostvertol has orders for 191 Mi-28N and UB helicopters for the Russian Ministry of Defense and two export contracts for 15 Mi-28NE ordered by Iraq (deliveries started in 2014) and 42 for Algeria (deliveries since 2016) . To date, about 130 Mi-28s have been manufactured, which means that more than 110 more units are to be manufactured. The Progress plant in Arsenyevo has contracts for 170 Ka-52 helicopters for the Russian Ministry of Defense (more than 100 have been delivered to date), as well as an order for 46 helicopters for Egypt; deliveries will begin in the second half of this year.

Purchases of foreign helicopters by Russian users also continue to decline. After the collapse of 2015, when the Russians bought a third of what they had before (36 helicopters against 121 in 2014), in 2016 there was a further decrease to 30. Half of them (15 units) are lightweight Robinsons, popular among private users . In 2016, Airbus Helicopters delivered 11 helicopters to Russian users, the same number as a year earlier.

Looking for a way out

As part of the implementation of the "State Armaments Program for 2011-2020" (State Armaments Program, GPR-2020), Russian combat aircraft have delivered 2011 helicopters to the Russian Ministry of Defense since 600, and by 2020 this number will reach 1000. during the exhibition, a reassessment - by the way, quite obvious - that the next military orders after 2020 will be much less. That is why, as Sergey Yemelyanov, Director of the Aviation Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said, since this year, Russian Helicopters has been very seriously engaged in a new offer for the civilian market and the search for new markets abroad.

During the exhibition, Russian Helicopters signed a memorandum of cooperation with Iran Helicopter Support & Renewal Company (IHRSC) on the program of assembling a Russian light helicopter in Iran. The official statement did not specify which helicopter it was intended for, but Andrey Boginsky later specified that it was a Ka-226, well adapted to work in mountainous terrain. IHRSC is engaged in the repair and maintenance of Russian helicopters in Iran; there are more than 50 different modifications of the Mi-8 and Mi-17. Recall that on May 2, 2017, the exercises "Russia", "Rosoboronexport" and "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited" established the company India-Russia Helicopters Limited, which will assemble 160 Ka-226T helicopters in India (after the delivery of 40 helicopters directly from Russia).

In the near future, the Russian civil and export offer is simultaneously the Ka-62 medium helicopter. Its first flight to Arsenyevo in the Russian Far East on the opening day of Helirussia on 25 May was its biggest event, albeit at a distance of 6400 km. A special conference was dedicated to him, during which he was connected with Arseniev via a teleconference. The director of the plant, Yuri Denisenko, said that the Ka-62 took off at 10:30, piloted by Vitaly Lebedev and Nail Azin, and spent 15 minutes in the air. The flight took place without problems at speeds up to 110 km/h and at altitudes up to 300 m. There are still two helicopters at the plant in varying degrees of readiness.

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