On October 15, 2024, at the site of the M.L. Mil and N.I. Kamov National Helicopter Building Center in Tomilino near Moscow, the upgraded Mi-34M1 helicopter made its first flight in hover mode. The machine is equipped with a turboshaft engine VK-650V produced by ODK-Klimov. The video from Tomilino is published in Mashnews YouTube.
Earlier helicopters with the VK-650V engine did not take to the air. It was originally designed to replace imported power units on Ansat and Ka-226 helicopters. The Mi-34M1 became the first helicopter to fly with the VK-650V engine, ahead of the Ansat, which is only being prepared for the start of certification flight tests with this turboshaft engine.
Mikhail Mil Design Bureau developed the Mi-34 in the 1980s as a light training and sport helicopter to replace the Mi-1 and Mi-2 used for this purpose. The M-14V-26 piston engine with an output of 325 hp designed by I.M. Vedeneyev was used as a powerplant.
In 2009, Russian Helicopters announced plans to resume production of the Mi-34 in two variants: the modernized piston Mi-34C1 and the gas-turbine Mi-34C2 with the 504 hp Arrius 2F engine from Turbomeca. As Andrey Shibitov, Director General of Russian Helicopters, said on the eve of MAKS-2009, one of the tasks that the holding company was facing at that time was to diversify its model range in order to move into the niche of the best-selling machines in the civilian sector.
However, this program was later abandoned in favor of developing a new light helicopter in partnership with the Italian company Agusta Westland. The joint work with the Italians stopped in 2014.
In 2023, Russian Helicopters returned to the idea of reviving the Mi-34 with the Russian VK-650V turboshaft engine. Now this promising TVaD is being considered for installation both on helicopters and in the turboprop version on the Yak-152 UTS, as well as for use in a hybrid propulsion system, a demonstrator of which has been created at Klimov.
With the former Western partners severing all relations with the Russian aviation industry, Russian Helicopters needs to get a single-engine gas turbine helicopter in its lineup that could compete with the Airbus H125 and H130, Agusta AW119 and Bell 407 and 505. Implementation of this program faces delays primarily due to the lack of a domestically produced TVaD. The success of the light helicopter and trainer aircraft programs depends largely on the timing of certification of the VK-650V and the launch of serial production by ODK-Klimov.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...