Russia’s future high-speed helicopter to emerge in 2020

Russian Helicopter is expected to finalize the concept of an advanced high-speed helicopter in the next 12 to 18 months, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yury Slyusar announced shortly before HeliRussia 2014. The initial development phase will involve the construction of technology demonstrators; a marketable product may emerge by 2020.

Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev says the program is currently in the design definition phase, which involves discussions on a possible increase in the maximum cruise speed. “The [target maximum] speed has not been defined yet,” he says, but adds that the helicopter will cruise at over 400 km/h. Slyusar, for his part, notes that cruising speed is not the defining factor for commercial operators: “Customers are primarily interested in an aircraft’s performance and operating costs.”