Repairs of Mi-8 Helicopters Abroad Become Easier

All equipment fit in the six standard cargo containers, which allows carrying by any type of transport: sea, air, railway, or automotive. Designers paid special attention to the equipment’s compactness. This set is enough to perform scheduled repair of a helicopter due every 2,000 flight hours or 10 years. Apart of the technical maintenance, the set helps adjust the chopper’s most troubled part, the airframe.

"Mi-8 and Mi-17 are widely used by over 50 countries worldwide. As any hardware, they need overhaul, but our maintenance potentials are limited abroad. Often, to repair a helicopter, we need to bring it to Russia. This is very expensive and sometimes impossible at all, especially when it comes to the military aircraft. By designing a mobile repair station, we tried to handle this issue", said Aleksey Romanov, heading the service centers arrangement division at Russian Helicopters.

The standardized tool set selected and composed by the holding’s experts is not a panacea; it cannot help with complete overhaul of an entire helicopter. Some units still will need to be sent to Russia for repairs at specialized facilities. However, this is many-fold cheaper and easier than to bring the whole helicopter.

Only a hangar is needed to perform the repair works, so that the hall can be painted after recovery. One can even do without stationery power supply, as the set includes an electric generator.

Designers see two options for using this equipment. First, the Russian experts arrive at the site and perform repairs by own forces. Second, the offer includes selling of the set and training of the client’s personnel on site.

The first sample of the portable repair set presented at Army-2020 was assembled in July and is ready for delivery. Composing of the second one will need 12-18 months. In case the equipment enters the serial production, the timeframes will noticeably shorten.

According to Aleksey Romanov, the project intrigued Rosoboronexport, there were contacts with Egyptian delegation, too. If the concept is in demand, the similar unified repair equipment set will be designed for Mi-24 helicopters.

The Army-2020 international military and technical forum takes place in August 23-29 at Patriot Congress & Expo Center, Alabino Range and Kubinka Airbase. Watch the 4-hour long video presentation of defense releases at ArmyOnline streamed on August 24, where tens of companies presented their projects for holdings and military officials.

Mil.Press, a top-priority media partner of the forum, posts the overviews of novelties and business events in the thematic section Army Forum. .

Ilya Bezruchko

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