Aeromax company unveils heavy cargo unmanned helicopter

Photo by © RIA Novosti

Aeromax unveiled the SH-3000 civilian helicopter mock-up at the HeliRussia-2023 exhibition of the helicopter industry, with a take-off weight of 3,600 kg and a cargo capacity of up to 1 tonne. The design of the new model allows the placement on board not only the transport module, but also radar stations, optical equipment and environmental monitoring systems. This was reported by the company’s press service.

The helicopter is almost 13 metres long. Its top speed is 210 km/h. The aircraft is capable of staying in the air for up to five hours and covering a distance of up to 900 km. The prospective cargo drone is designed to transport cargo in hard-to-reach regions of the country. The assembly of the first prototype and the beginning of ground testing are scheduled for the end of 2024.

“Aeromax developed the helicopter taking into account the needs of its anchor customer, Gazprom Neft-Snabzheniye. The companies are actively cooperating on the development of unmanned cargo transport solutions, and since 2021 have conducted a number of joint test flights of cargo vehicles with a take-off weight of more than 30 kg.

Also at the exhibition, the company presented a demonstrator of hydrogen fuel cell technology for unmanned aerial vehicles. It is based on the SH-750 helicopter-type UAS. This helicopter has a take-off weight of 750 kg and an earlier version with an internal combustion engine.

The hydrogen technology project is aimed at improving the flight and environmental performance of the aircraft and is being implemented jointly with the Hydrogen Technology Centre Ltd. It is based on developments that have been successfully applied in the automotive industry.

“We analyse the market with an eye to the future and work on the development of competitive vehicles,” commented Andrey Shevchenko, Aeromax CEO. – Today we present technologies for cargo projects. We are looking for different approaches to make transportation by unmanned aerial systems as efficient and affordable as possible.

According to him, the SH-3000 cargo helicopter will be able to fly in automatic mode day and night, including in difficult weather conditions, which makes it an attractive solution for cargo transportation. “The ABC project using hydrogen fuel cells is aimed at using environmentally friendly, advanced fuels and reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere,” added Andrey Shevchenko.