Mi-26 Halo

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Production of several Russian aircraft developed during the Soviet era ended after the fall of the USSR before later restarting – simply because, while not necessarily the most modern designs, there were no alternatives available. Examples include the Il-76 and An-124 transport aircraft and the Mi-24 attack helicopter.

The Mil Mi-26 Halo is another robust design from Soviet times that’s had a second lease of life. Developing a new helicopter of the Mi-26’s heavy-lift class would be too expensive for the limited number of orders such a type could attract. So instead the focus is building on a proven design.

Halo EmergesThe Mi-6 of 1957 was for many years the heaviest helicopter in the world, boasting a take-off weight of 44

Heavylift

HaloMil is improving its Mi-26 Halo, the world’s largest and heaviest helicopter, as Piotr Butowski discovers

MIL Mi-26 HALO MILITARY

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Richard G

ennis

MILITARY MIL Mi-26 HALO

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tonnes and a load capacity of 12 tonnes. In 1961 it became the � rst helicopter to exceed a speed of 300km/h (161kts). Ten years later, the Russians began to design its bigger successor, able to carry a 20-tonne load over 400km (248 miles).

Many designs were tested but eventually it was decided to stick with the Mi-6’s classic layout but add new engines and an eight-blade main rotor. The new helicopter, designated the Mi-26, � rst lifted off the ground, for three minutes, on December 14, 1977, with Gurgen Karapetyan at the controls.

The Mi-26 completed state evaluation on August 26, 1980, and in June 1981 the second prototype (CCCP-06141) was displayed at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. The type went on to establish many world records, including the fastest climb to 4,060m (13,320ft) with a 25-tonne load, and became the world’s largest and heaviest helicopter, with a maximum take-off weight of 56,000kg (123,459lb) – records it still holds.

ProductionSeries production of the Mi-26 started in 1980 at the facility at Rostov-on-Don (now part of Rostvertol), on the assembly line previously occupied by the Mi-6. The � rst series example � ew on October 25 that year – the � rst batch comprising three helicopters,

the second � ve and subsequent batches ten.When the author visited the Rostov plant

in August 2013, helicopters numbers 32-07 and 32-08 were under construction. These were the seventh and the eighth of the 32nd production batch and therefore the 317th and 318th examples of the type. But the Mi-26 has yet to come close to its predecessor, the Mi-6, of which 914 were built from 1959 to 1980.

The annual production rate of the Mi-26 reached its peak in 1990 when 40 were built. By the mid-1990s, however, the effects of Russia’s post-USSR economic turmoil saw production decline to almost a complete halt. The problems continued into the 2000s, when just one helicopter was made per year, most of them for export – for instance, three examples of the civil Mi-26TS version were purchased by Chinese companies. The largest single order was for three aircraft for the Venezuelan Air Force, delivered during 2007-2008.

RevivalThe next biggest order came in March 2011 from the Russian Ministry of Defence for 18 helicopters. The Russian Air Force (RuAF) received the � rst two aircraft from this contract in October 2011, followed by another pair in December 2011 and six in both 2012 and 2013. The remaining two will be delivered in the � rst half of 2014.

Rotor: The three-stage VR-26 main gearbox, weighing 3,640kg (8,025lb) and with a gear ratio of 62.5:1. The main rotor has a titanium rotor head and eight blades with steel spar and composite pro� les. Each blade is 14.3m (46ft 11in) long and weighs 399kg (879lb). The main rotor has a speed of 132.7rpm and the � ve-blade tail rotor turns at 552rpm.

Engines: Two Ivchenko-Progress D-136 turboshaft engines produce 7,500kW (10,000shp) at take-off and have standard dust � lters and optional infrared suppression cool air mixers. A TA-8V auxiliary power unit serves as the main engines’ starter as well as powering electric, hydraulic and air conditioning systems on the ground.

Cockpit: The Mi-26 carries the Greben-2 course and DISS-32-90 Doppler navigation systems and the PKV-26-1 � ight control system, which includes the VUAP-T four-channel autopilot, with auto-hover, while the 8A313 Groza weather radar is � tted in the helicopter’s nose. The crew of � ve comprises pilot, co-pilot, navigator, � ight engineer and cargo loading/unloading systems operator. The pressurised crew compartment can also carry four other crewmembers for cargo transport missions.

Fuel tanks: The Halo carries 12,000 litres (2,639 Imp gal) of fuel in eight tanks under the cabin � oor. A further 14,800 litres (3,255 Imp gal) of auxiliary fuel can be carried in four tanks inside the cabin for ferry � ights.

MIL MI-26 HALO FEATURES

Piotr B

utowski

Rostvertol

Rostvertol


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Another RuAF contract for a further 20 Halos is expected to follow soon. Thanks to these orders, Rostvertol is now manufacturing six or seven Mi-26s a year in addition to Mi-28N and Mi-35 attack helicopters also built at Rostov-on-Don. The plant’s total annual production output is now 50 to 55 helicopters.

Rostvertol has also returned both military and civil Mi-26s to airworthiness after they have stood unused at air� elds for years. During the author’s visit to Rostov, two overhauled Halos stood in the � nal assembly hall, one military and one civil.

The Novosibirsk NARZ repair plant also conducts major overhauls of Mi-26s – in October 2013 it delivered the � rst of two overhauled Mi-26s to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. They had not � own for nearly 20 years.

CapacityThe Mi-26, nicknamed Korova (cow) in Russia, is a conventional single main rotor helicopter made of aluminium-

lithium alloys with wide use of titanium and composites. Its large, unpressurised cabin can accommodate up to 68 fully-equipped paratroopers who can jump from the helicopter from 500m (1,640ft) at speeds up to 295km/h (159kts). Alternative con� gurations provide capacity for 61 stretchers plus three attendants in medevac con� guration or up to 20,000kg (44,092lb) of containers, pallets or vehicles.

The cabin is accessed via a rear loading ramp and two doors on the fuselage’s port side. Loading equipment includes roller tracks and two 1,500kg (3,306lb) electric winches inside the cabin. The undercarriage is � xed with twin wheels on each unit and steerable nose wheels. The main legs’ length is hydraulically adjustable to make loading easier while retractable support is � tted to protect the tail.

Operators Of the more than 300 Mi-26s built, about 110 are currently � ying. The RuAF � ies 40, including the latest aircraft delivered

MIL MI-26 HALO THREE-VIEW

1 Chinese Mi-26TC B-7802 scoops water from a lake during fi refi ghting duties. The aircraft is oper-ated by China Flying Dragon Aviation. Rostvertol 2 A Mi-26TP fi tted with internal tanks can carry up to 15,000 litres of fi re retardant, and dispense the load from one of two vents. Piotr Butowski 3 A Russian-registered Mi-26T lifts the frame of a cathedral dome into place in 2001. Rostvertol 4 Mi-26T RA-06291 operated by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations carries a catamaran under-slung from four ropes. The aircraft was operating in Switzerland. Rostvertol

MIL MI-26 HALO FEATURES

Piotr B

utowski

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between 2011 and 2013. It has another 60 unairworthy examples at various airfields. Russia’s Border Guard, Ministry of Emergency Situations and Ministry of Interior have another 15 between them.

Ukraine inherited more than 20 Halos after the collapse of the USSR, a few of which still fly. The air forces of Belarus and Kazakhstan, which each received about ten, now only operate individual examples.

Beyond Russia and the former Soviet republics, four Mi-26s are operated by the 126th Helicopter Flight of the Indian Air Force (the first export customer of the Halo in 1986), two by the North Korean military and the three by Venezuela. Mexico operated two from 2000 – one crashed and the other is preserved in a museum. Cambodia also operated two.

Operations of civil Mi-26s are concentrated in two large Russian companies which provide transport services for the oil and gas industry in Siberia: UTair, which flies 16 (and has another ten in storage), and SKOL, which has six. There are several smaller operators, including Rostvertol Avia, which flies four.

Military UseThe first conflict in which the Mi-26 was used was the Soviet war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. Later, Mi-26s took part in fighting in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia and Tajikistan. One Mi-26 was downed by a portable surface-to-air missile on August 19, 2002, at Khankala in Chechnya, killing 127 people.

The Mi-26’s valuable heavy-lift capabilities

1 The Mi-26T can carry the VSU-15 bucket under-slung below the fuselage for the firefighting role. Piotr Butowski 2 The pod of the L370 self-defensive system used on the Mi-26M/ME. Piotr Butowski 3 The Mi-6M Hook was the predeces-sor of the bigger Mi-26 Halo. Mil archives via Piotr

Butowski 4 Chinese firefighters board a Mi-26TC. Rostvertol 5 A computer-generated image of the

next generation Mi-46. Piotr Butowski 6 A Mi-26T2 fitted with a searchlight. Rostvertol 7 The Mi-26T2 features a glass cockpit with five large

multi-function displays. Rostvertol

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have come to the fore on a number of occasions. One was in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in April 1986. Several thousand tonnes of protective materials (bags filled with sand, clay, dolomite, boron and lead buckshot) were dropped from Halos onto the incandescent core of the reactor. And in April 2002, a Mi-26 recovered a US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter, which had force-landed near Gardiz in the mountains of Afghanistan, to its Bagram home base 150km (93 miles) away. The Halo lifted the 11-tonne Chinook on its external hook.

Mi-26s have also undertaken UN humanitarian operations in Cambodia,

Somalia and Indonesia and were involved in fire control operations in the former Yugoslavia. And Russian Mi-26s have conducted civil aid work in Belgium, Cambodia, Iran, Malaysia, Somalia, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

ImprovementsRemaining almost unaltered for 30 years, the Mi-26 has some weak points. The three most significant are the times between necessary overhauls of components, obsolete engines and old, analogue avionics.

The manufacturer has worked to resolve the shortcomings in recent years. It’s

MI-26 HALO SPECIFICATIONSDimensions

Maximum length, rotors turning: 40.02m (131ft 4in)

Fuselage length: 33.72m (110ft 8in)

Height: 8.14m (26ft 9in) above rotor hub

Main rotor diameter: 32m (105ft)

Tail rotor diameter: 7.61m (25ft)

Cabin

Length, excluding ramp: 12.10m (39ft 8in)

Length, including ramp: 15m (49ft 3in)

Width: 3.25m (10ft 8in)

Height: 2.91m to 3.17m (9ft 7in to 10ft 5in)

Volume: 121m3 (4,273ft3)

Undercarriage

Main wheel tyre size: 1,120 x 450mm (44 x 17.7in)

Wheel base: 8.95m (29ft 4in)

Wheel track: 7.17m (23ft 6in)

Weights

Empty: 28,270kg (62,325lb)

Nominal take-off: 49,600kg (109,349lb)

Maximum take-off: 56,000kg (123,459lb)

Payload, nominal: 15,000kg (33,069lb)

Payload, maximum (internal, external or mix): 20,000kg (44,092lb)

Performance

Maximum level speed: 295km/h (159kts)

Cruise speed: 255km/h (138kts) at 500m (1,640ft)

OGE hovering ceiling: 1,800m (5,906ft) at nominal take-off weight

Service ceiling: 4,600m (15,090ft) at nominal take-off weight, 3,600m (11,810ft) at maximum

take-off weight

Range with full fuel: 800km (497 miles)

Range with full payload: 590km (367 miles)

Ferry range: 1,920km (1,193 miles) with four auxiliary tanks at sea level

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extended the service life of key components – the rotor blades now have a 1,000-1,200-hour life and the main gearbox and transmission system a 3,000-hour life, with an overhaul every 600 hours. The service life of the airframe is about 3,000 flying hours, but static tests of the fuselage are in progress, aimed at extending the time to 6,000 hours. The service life of the D-136 engines is 6,000 hours or 7,500 cycles.

Several new engine options have been proposed. Ivchenko-Progress has offered to upgrade the D-136 to D-136-2 standard with technology from its D-436T1 turbofan, used in the Antonov An-148, Beriev Be-200 and Tupolev Tu-334. The D-136-2 would offer the same take-off power as the D-136 but with improved hot-and-high performance – able to operate at 1,600m (5,249ft) above sea level and a temperature of 40°C (104°F) – and emergency power increased to 9,100kW (12,200shp). It would also have a full authority digital engine

control system (FADEC), which the current engine lacks.

Meanwhile Motor Sich, another Ukrainian company, has proposed an engine called the AI-127, using the core from the Ivchenko-Progress D-27 that’s fitted to the An-70 transport aircraft. It would be rated at 8,600Kw (11,500shp) of take-off power and 10,800kW (14,500shp) of emergency power. Using the AI-127 would however require the upgrade of the main gearbox.

Russian company Aviadvigatel has proposed its PD-12V, developed using technology from the PD-14 turbofan which will power Russia’s new MC-21 airliner. The PD-12V would have the same rating as the current D-136 but a lower specific fuel consumption of 179g/shp (the D-136’s is 206g/shp).

Mi-26T2 The new engine options for the Mi-26 are for now only theoretical because the current D-136s by and large satisfy the requirements of the Mi-26’s main customer, the Russian Ministry of Defence, meaning any powerplant changes are only likely to happen well into the future. However, improvements have been made to the Halo’s avionics in the upgraded Mi-26T2 variant, which features a new cockpit with digital systems.

The T2 was first exhibited by Rostvertol at the Farnborough Airshow in 2002, the prototype, Mi-26 serial number 09-01, having been built in 1985. The T2 reduces the flight crew from four to two to help make the Halo more attractive on the export market, where operations with two crew rather than four are standard.

For a long time there was little international interest in the T2. That changed in the late 2000s when India had a requirement for 15 new heavy helicopters. In October and November 2010, the type underwent trials in India at Chandigarh and in the mountains at Leh, and in spring 2012 the Mi-26T2 was presented to an Indian delegation at Rostov-on-Don. But later that year India decided to award the contract to the competing Boeing CH-47F Chinook.

Despite that contract loss, the Algerian Government became interested in the Mi-26T2. The helicopter was demonstrated in Algeria in 2012 and a contract is now being negotiated. While waiting for the final order, Rostvertol is preparing to produce the first batch of T2s. Three are due to be built in 2014, with the designation Mi-26T2S.

Avionics ChangesSo what sort of new avionics make the Mi-26T2 different? The variant has the new NPK-90-2 flight navigation computer, which replaces previous separate flight control and navigation instruments. It includes five MFI-10-7V multi-function displays and two data input panels, replacing the analogue instrumentation in the older aircraft, a PKV-26D digital autopilot and two Baget-53-15 computers.

For navigation the T2 features the LINS-100RS laser inertial navigation system, A-737-11 satellite navigation receiver and digital map and the 7A-813C weather radar. The helicopter is also fitted with a new KSS-26T2 communication suite. Optional

features are night-vision goggles and a TSL-1600 searchlight mounted under the nose.

The automation provided by these systems, plus improvements to the management of the helicopter’s hydraulic and electrical assemblies, are why the T2 can operate with two rather than four flight crew – obviating the need for the navigator and flight engineer positions.

Mi-26MThe Mi-26T2 is designed for civil customers, but the same avionics improvements it features are to be included in an upgrade of the military Halo known as the Mi-26M (or Mi-26ME for foreign military customers). The Mi-26M/ME will also be fitted with new special equipment, standard among which will be night-vision goggles, a GOES-321 thermal imaging camera and laser rangefinder, and GOES-337M, which adds a TV camera and automatic target tracking device to the -321’s features.

1 Mi-26 RF-95572 of the Russian Air Force. Stanislav Bazhenov 2 A rotor head is lifted into position above a Mi-26 on the production line at Rostov-on-Don. Piotr Butowski 3 This photo shows the fuselage construction of the Mi-26. Piotr Butowski 4 A mock-up of a Mi-26 helicopter at the Rostov-on-Don production facility. Mil archives via Piotr Butowski

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The Mi-26M and Mi-26ME will also feature the L370E26L Vitebsk self-defence suite (named ‘President’ for the ME export) mounted in two pods on the sides of the fuselage. Each pod houses two L370-2-01 forward and aft-looking missile-launch warning sensors and the L370-5L infrared jammer. The helicopter will also be fitted with 14 UV-26 flare dispensers. The self-

defence system was tested between 2009 and 2012 on Mi-26 serial number 07-04 (tail number 66), built in 1985 and belonging to the army aviation’s evaluation centre at Torzhok.

Next GenerationThe Russian aerospace industry wants to retain its competences in designing and

producing heavy helicopters and, to that end, Mil has been investigating a new-generation heavy-lift design for more than 20 years. The company announced the Mi-46 back in 1992, using the design of the Mi-26 as the basis for an eight-blade main rotor with a 27.6m diameter and two Aviadvigatel D-215V engines rated at 7,600shp each.

The Mi-46 was initially intended to carry loads of 10 to 12 tonnes, similar to the Mi-6 but less than the Mi-26’s, but the design is now focused on carrying the same heavy loads as a Halo.

Russia is trying to persuade the Chinese to become involved in developing a new heavy-lift design. Talks about a joint Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter, which in Russia is codenamed PTV-35 (Perspektivnyi Tyazholyi Vertolot, or Future Heavy Helicopter – 35 tonnes), have been going on for many years. In October 2013, during a visit to China, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitri Rogozin, the supervisor of the defence industry, commented: “There is serious progress in the project of joint development… of the heavy lift helicopter.”

However, the probability of a jointly-produced Russian-Chinese helicopter isn’t high. At most, China is likely to be interested in buying from Russia the design of such a helicopter, as they did with the WZ-10 helicopter and L-7 and L-15 trainers), but not jointly producing a new aircraft.

Mi-26 (izdeliye, or item, 90) is the basic military transport/assault version.

Mi-26T (izdeliye 209) is the civil transport helicopter, manufactured since January 1985. Assault equipment, armour and military systems are removed and some civil communication and navigation systems added.

Mi-26A is an upgraded military version produced in 1985, successfully tested, but not ordered, by Russian armed forces because of financial limitations. It featured a NPK-26-1 joint flight and navigation system, 1A813 weather radar, GS-1 FLIR turret and glass-fibre rotor blades. Extended self-defence devices included UV-26 flare dispensers, a Mak infrared missile-launch warning sensor and an IR jammer. Some elements were later introduced to standard military helicopters.

Mi-26S was a version prepared during the Chernobyl nuclear power station catastrophe in 1986 for spraying deactivation liquid.

Mi-26PP (Postanovshchik Pomekh – jammer) was an electronic countermeasures version of 1986, designed to suppress early-warning radars; one prototype only.

Mi-26L235 was a flying test bed with geological exploration equipment, made in 1987.

Mi-27 was an airborne command post, intended to replace the Mi-6VKP/Mi-22. First of two prototypes built in 1988.

Mi-26TZ (Toplivo-Zapravshchik – fuel tanker) delivers 14,000 litres (3,079 Imp gal) of fuel and 1,040 litres (228 Imp gal) of lubricants to four aircraft, or 10 tanks, vehicles etc. Prototype was built in 1988; in series production since 1996.

Mi-26K (Kran – crane) was a proposed, but undeveloped, flying crane derivate of the Mi-10K produced in the 1980s, able to carry a maximum payload of 25,000kg (55,115lb).

Mi-26NEF-M was a 1990 prototype anti-submarine warfare version, with sonar carried on external sling. Later converted into a Mi-26T.

Mi-26M was a deep upgrade project of early 1990s with 10,440kW (14,000shp) Progress/Zaporozhye D-127 engines, all-composite main rotor blades and self-lubricating rotor heads along with a new-

generation flight/navigation system. The maximum weight remained unchanged; maximum payload at external sling increased to 25,000kg. The project’s aim was to improve the Halo’s hot-and-high operations, increasing the operational ceiling to 2,800m (9,185ft) and service ceiling 5,900m (19,357ft).

Mi-26MS was a projected flying hospital version, with surgical, pre-operating, ambulance and other compartments in the cabin. Exhibited at the Paris Air Show in 1993.

Mi-26P (Passazhirskiy) is a projected 70-passenger version. Exhibited at the Paris Air Show in 1993.

Mi-26TM (M for montazhnyi – instalment) flying-crane version prepared by Rostvertol with a glazed gondola for the pilot/sling load operator under the front fuselage, aft of the nose wheels, or a larger gondola under the upswept tail. Exhibited at the Paris Air Show in 1993, it was sold in 1997 to Samsung Airspace Ltd.

Mi-26TP (P for pozharnyi – firefighting), of 1994, in three sub-versions. The first had four tanks inside the cabin with a 15,000 litres (3,299 Imp gal) capacity flowing out in 35-45 seconds; the second had a soft externally-suspended 17,000 litre (3,739 Imp gal) VSU-15 tank, emptied in five seconds; and the third had two EP-8000 rigid externally-suspended tanks, carrying 15,000 litres (3,299 Imp gal) emptied in 50 seconds.

Mi-26P (Pogranichnyi – border guard), a frontier-guarding version with 1A813 radar and extended communications. Tested in the early 1990s.

Mi-26TS (S for Sertifitsirovannyi – certified – or izdeliye 219), similar to Mi-26T but adapted for civil certification (granted on September 28, 1995).

Mi-26TK – another flying-crane version, built in 1997 by the Mil design bureau. Has a removable external cabin for operator at port front cabin door, cargo azimuth orientation system and precision hover hold.

Mi-26T (izdeliye 229), made for Venezuela in 2007.

Mi-26T2, Mi-26T2S, Mi-26M and Mi-26ME – the current civilian and military upgrades.

MI-26 HALO VARIANTS IN ORDER OF DEVELOPMENT

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Mi-26 Halo