Production of Mi-8 family helicopters is limited by the production volumes of VK-2500 engines, said Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. Interfax quoted him as saying.
“The main bottleneck today are helicopter engines. In particular, if we are talking about the VK-2500, initially, when we created a single center for the production of VK-2500 in St. Petersburg, we counted on a maximum volume of up to 200 engines. We ended up with 300, and the demand today is over 500 engines,” Manturov said at a meeting of the Federation Council committee on economic policy on April 11.
“So here of course we have to take into account these bottlenecks, if we are talking about the Mi-8 type helicopter, its modern modifications,” he noted.
He also gave the example of Ka-62 helicopters, which were previously equipped with Ardiden 3G engines made by French Safran. According to Manturov, the VK-1600V turboshaft engine will be certified only at the end of 2024.
The VK-2500V is a localization in Russia of the TV3-117VMA engine developed in the 1970s by the Klimov Design Bureau, which was manufactured at the Motor Sich plant in Zaporozhye. The upgrading of the engine at ODK-Klimov for Russian components was completed in 2011-2012. It is installed on Mi-17 helicopter modifications as well as on Mi-28, Ka-52 and Mi-35 combat helicopters.
The VK-1600V is also being developed by ODK-Klimov JSC. This engine is intended for installation on multipurpose and special helicopters with takeoff weight of 5-8 tons. The first object of application is the promising multi-purpose Ka-62.
