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MAKS 09: Russian Helicopters targets lighter end of market for growth
By Peter Donaldson, Zhukovsky
While between 60 and 70% of the aircraft sold by Russian Helicopters JSC, the new consolidated ‘mother’ company for Russia’s industry, are Mil Mi-8 and Mi-17 variants, light helicopters will be increasingly important in the company's campaign to increase its share of the global market from 4.2% today to 15% by 2015, the company's media relations head Roman Kirillov, tells RotorHUB.
With this in mind, the company signed a memorandum with Turbomeca at the show to buy Arrius engines for the Mil Mi-34, which Russian helicopters plans to put into series production with the new engine, with marketing efforts initially focused on Russia. The company has two other light helicopters in its range: the coaxial-rotor Kamov 226T, which the company is currently offering to India and Kazan’s Ansat.
While the light helicopter programme gathers pace, the Mi-8 and Mi-17 models are still seen as reliable generators of cash. Kirillov tells RotorHub that, thanks to the modernisation programmes now under way, ‘they will bring huge sales for 10 or 15 years ahead’. There is a ‘deep’ modernisation programme ongoing, known for the moment as Mi-8M. ‘After this process there will be a different name’, says Kirillov.
He is also hopeful that the Mi-38, delayed by US government export restrictions affecting their agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada to supply the engines, will eventually get the Canadian engines after all, providing an alternative powerplant for export market. ‘We hope the cooperation will be successful and the helicopter will fly with these engines.’
These projects and others such as the Mi-26T2 heavy lifter, which is being upgraded with new avionics, the Kamov Ka-60/62 will all require a great deal of investment before they bear fruit, more than even the Mi-8 and -17 cash cows can provide, even though Russian helicopters production and financial results are both up on last year. (The company expects to produce around 220 helicopters this year, compared with 169 in 2008, and made a profit of 1.7 billion Roubles (US $53.44 million) in the first half of 2009.)
It is against this background that the company, frustrated in efforts to raise credit from Russian banks under reasonable terms, is turning to international financial institutions. ‘After MAKS there will be some discussions between our bosses and global financial players.'
Finance is also key to the future of the aircraft represented by two models on the company’s exhibition stand, the Mil X1 and the Kamov Ka-92. Both are part of the ‘Speed Helicopter united programme’ in which Kamov and Mil are pooling their expertise and experience to produce a fast helicopter technology to rival Sikorsky’s X2 technology. Kirillov describes them as options within the Speed Helicopter programme: ‘We will choose which aircraft will lead in the middle of next year.’
‘We need money from the government to progress the High Speed Helicopter programme’, he tells RotorHUB. There is an understanding that the government should help, encouraged by the inevitable civil/military cross fertilisation, he continues. ‘Discussions are under way as part of a larger industrial R&D funding project.’
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