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Russia’s biggest helicopter maker of rugged attack and transport

rotorcraft is boasting very busy production lines thanks to the huge orders

placed by the country’s defence ministry and has also reported pretty good

export business. ALEX MLADENOV visited Rostvertol to get the story.

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ostvertol is among the brightest jewels inthe crown of Russian Helicopters. It is the

umbrella holding which consolidated the

entire Russian rotorcraft industry in the early

2010s and assumed full control over the country’s

design bureaus and manufacturing plants.

Rostov on Don-based company was effectively

placed under Russian Helicopters control in

2010 and nowadays the giant manufacturing

complex in the southern part of Russia deals

with the classical complete production cycle of

fuselage and rotor blades, as well as with finalassembly and integration, ground/flight testing,

customer delivery, training, after-sales services,

maintenance, repair and overhaul service. It also

undertakes some developmental and testing work

with the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (Mil MHP).

The closed-loop manufacturing process at

Rostvertol sees raw materials and blanks arriving

at the plant, together with crates with vendor-

Rsupplied items such as avionics, transmissioncomponents, general aircraft systems and

instruments, while the end product comes out in

the form of helicopters ready for delivery.

The manufacturing complex is situated in

the big city of Rostov on Don (population of

about 1.2 million) and now employs more than

8,500 personnel making it Russia’s biggest

among the five rotorcraft manufacturing plants.

The production lines have been fairly busy

since the early 2010s and are currently operating

at their full capacity thanks to the solid demandfor sophisticated military helicopters in Russia

and abroad. The biggest customer is the

Russian MoD because of the wide-ranging

recapitalization programme undertaken by the

Russian Air Force’s Army Aviation (RAA) branch

involving purchases of Mi-35M and Mi-28N/UB

attack helicopters in addition to Mi-26 heavy lift

transport helicopters.

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THE BEST YEAR EVER

The company business results in the period

2012 to 2014 are viewed as the peak in the

post-Soviet times. During my visit to the plant,

Rostvertol officials were reluctant to reveal any

details on the deliveries and revenues, but this

information can be easily found in the company’s

annual reports for 2012 and 2013 readily available

on the Internet.

The total of 87 Mi-28Ns were built at Rostvertol

between 2005 and 2014. The Mi-35M deliveries

for the RAA in period 2011-2014 involved 48

examples, plus 54 for export customers. The

RAA also took on strength in 2011-2014 no fewer

than 18 newly-built or extensively refurbished

Mi-26Ts. The low-rate Mi-26T production, which

almost discontinued in the late 1990s and early2000s, is now proceeding ahead at a decent

tempo. Between 2001 and 2012, as many as 18

examples were delivered, including three in military

configuration to Venezuela and three more to

government customers in China for disaster relief

effort and fire-fighting. It is noteworthy that the

full-rate ‘Halo’ production at Rostvertol during the

1980s was some 30 Mi-26s a year.

Further production-related information found

in Rostvertol’s 2012 and 2013 company annual

reports refers to the mean time between failure

(MTBF): this is the predicted elapsed time between

inherent failures of the helicopters operated under

warranty, which is usually two years-long (starting

from the hand-over date) or 200 to 300 hours

(depending on the specific contract), whichever is

reached the first. According to the reports, in 2012,

the RAA Mi-28N fleet operating under warranty

numbered 28 aircraft and logged 1,335 flight

hours, demonstrating an MBTF of 10.5 hours (9.6

hours in 2011). In 2013, the number of helicoptersof this type under warranty increased to 42, the

flying hours logged upped to 2,234, while the

MTBF fell to 8.4 hours.

In 2012, the RAA Mi-35M fleet showed an

The cabin is extremely

spacious with two cabin

doors allowing the

crew to better manage

personnel and cargo.

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MTBF of 29.5 hours as 22 aircraft notched up a

total of 2,388 flight hours. In 2013 the warranted

Mi-35M fleet numbered 30 units, the flying

hours logged upped to 3,069, while the MTBF fell

to 22.6 hours.

That year, the export Mi-35Ms had an MTBF

of 26.6 hours, as 21 aircraft logged a total of 1,172

flight hours, while in 2013 the number of warranted

helicopters increased to 27, the hours totalled 823

and the MTBF fell to 23.5 hours.

The Russian Air Force Mi-26Ts reported anMTBF of 50 hours as 12 helicopters logged a

total of 2,103 flight hours. In 2013, the number of

warranted Mi-26Ts grew up to 18, with 2,235 hours

flown and an MTBF of 40.5 hours.

The MTBF for both the Russian Mi-35M and

Mi-26T fleets under warranty shown in 2012 and

2013 proved to be well above the Russian MoD’s

minimum contractual requirements set at eight

and 16 hours respectively. The classic ‘Hind’

derivatives, delivered to Peru and Myanmar (six

aircraft under warranty) flew a total of 365 hours

in 2012 with an MTBF of 73 hours, a significant

improvement compared to 2011, when the figure

was only 28.5 hours.

Rostvertol’s annual reports also contain dataon the revenues from helicopters, parts and

services sales in 2013, which totalled 31.453 billion

Roubles (around US $1 billion); this is regarded as

sharp growth compared to 2011 when helicopter

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sales accounted for 12.2 billion Roubles (US $573

million) only, while 2012 sales amounted to 27.2

billion Roubles (about $906 million).

The share of the domestic sales in 2013 was53%, while in 2012 it was 72%.

BUSY AIRFIELD AND

ASSEMBLY HALL

The mega-facility has its own small airfield,

named Krestovka, situated next to the production

facilities, which sports a short and wide runway,

optimised for rolling take-off/landing operations

of heavyweight helicopters as well as with four

big pads with circular shape (each capable of

accommodating one Mi-26 or two Mi-35M/ 

Mi-28N-class helicopters), all connected by a

system of runways and aprons. Rostvertol also

boasts the most modern final assembly shop

within the Russian helicopter-making industry.

Originally built in the 1980s to handle the Mi-26’s

large-scale production, this is where system

installation, integration and electrical testing work

takes place. During my visit at the final assembly

line in Workshop No.3, as many as four new

Mi-35Ms and four Mi-28Ns were noticed in final

assembly or passing electrical system functional

checks, and no less than ten more were invarious airframe/systems assembly. In addition,

four completely disassembled Mi-28Ns, built

between 2008 and 2011, were seen undergoing

various fuselage and system modifications under

modification bulletin issued by Mil MHP and one of

the two Mi-35M prototypes was also undergoing

system maintenance. On the ‘Halo’ section in

the assembly hall, an Mi-26T built for the RAA

was nearing completion of its main overhaul

and two more newly-built machines of the same

type were prepared to begin the final assembly

phase. Nowadays, as the manufacturing process

is proceeding smoothly, the build cycle typically

takes between six and nine months.

SOVIET PAST

In its Soviet past the company, then known as

the Rostov on Don Aircraft Production Enterprise,

was engaged in the large-scale production of

military helicopters - the Mi-24D/Mi-25 ‘Hind-D’

and Mi-24V/Mi-35 ‘Hind-E’ armoured gunships

have built for export customers only since 1975

while the Mi-26T heavy lift helicopter was launched

into production in 1980. In the late 1990s, the

Mi-35P ‘Hind-F’ was also in production, again for

the export market. This classical version of the

omnipresent armoured gunship remains in low-

rate production, mainly for financially-constrained

Third World customers.

During the turbulent post-Soviet times,

Rostvertol lost almost overnight its massive

Russian state defence orders and had to

survive on occasional domestic and export

contracts for both new and refurbished attack

and heavy lift transport helicopters. It is

noteworthy that in the mid-1990s the company

undertook its first-ever deliveries of the Mi-24-

family of armoured gunships to the RAA – thiswas a batch of 22 aircraft, originally destined

for an undisclosed Third World customer,

together with 12 Mi-26s. This was a fast-track

procurement undertaken in an effort to renew,

at least partially, the aging RAA fleet heavily

engaged in the first war in the troubled Russian

republic of Chechnya. In total, Rostvertol

reported the delivery of as many as 62 newly-

built helicopters to various Russian power

organisations, including 22 Mi-24s and 40 Mi-26s

in 10 years since 1992. In addition to the RAA,

Rostvertol also boasts the most modern final assembly

shop within the Russian helicopter-making industry.

Originally built in the 1980s to handle the Mi-26’s large-

scale production, this is where system installation,integration and electrical testing work takes place.

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Rostvertol production data

The plant, known at the time as Factory No.168 and subordinated at to the Soviet

Union’s mighty Ministry of Aircraft Industry, was re-directed into helicopter production

in 1956, beginning with the piston-engined Mil Mi-1 ‘Hare’ light single. In 1959, a great

leap forward was made with the introduction of the Mil Mi-6 ‘Hook’, a heavyweight

rotorcraft with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 40 tonnes and 12-tonne payload,delivered to both military and civil customers. It remained in production until 1980,

with 876 examples rolling off the line. The Mi-10 ‘Harke’, based on the Mi-6’s design,

was built in the late 1960s for the Soviet Air Force, intended for the transportation of

heavyweight and outsize loads on an external platform, while the Mi-10K was a flying

crane for aerial construction works, made between 1971 and 1976.

The new-generation Mi-26 ‘Halo’ heavy-lift transport was launched into production

in 1980. The giant helicopter boasts a MTOW of 56 tonnes and has a 20-tonne payload;

it also has the distinction of being the largest rotorcraft ever put into large-scale

production in the world. By 2014, as many as 260 Mi-26s are reported to have been

rolled out at Rostvertol and the type is set to remain in production for a decade or even

two to come.

The Mi-24D (Mi-25) ‘Hind-D’ armoured gunship was launched in production in

1975 for export customers, with the last examples rolling off the line in 1985, while the

improved derivative Mi-24V (Mi-35) ‘Hind-E’ followed suit in 1984 and is still on offer. As

many as 600 Mi-24Ds and Mi-25s were produced at Rostvertol, followed by 250-plus

Mi-24Vs and Mi-35s. In the late 1990s, the Mi-24P (Mi-35P) ‘Hind-F’ version, armed

with a GSh-30K 30mm twin-barrel cannon was launched in production and it is still

being marketed to Third World customers as an affordable armoured gunship with

guided missiles. The enhanced Mi-35M, endowed with full night operating capabilitythanks to the all-new mission avionics suite, was launched in production in 2005, with

the first deliveries reported in 2006 to the Venezuela’s Army Aviation service. So far, no

fewer than 100 examples have been delivered to five operators, comprising Venezuela,

Brazil, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iraq.

The Mi-28N new-generation armoured gunship entered production in 2005 and

commissioned with the RAA in 2009, with no fewer than 93 examples have to date

been handed over so far.

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the list of ‘Halo’ operators in Russia that took on

strength the type in the 1990s includes the Federal

Border Guard Service (now incorporated within the

structure of the Federal Security Service - FSS),the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Interior and

the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

However after 1997, the domestic military

and paramilitary orders dried up entirely and

remained so until 2001, Rostvertol had to survive

on the basis of export deliveries only, accounting

for 23 Mi-24/35s and four Mi-26s. In the 10

years after 2001, no fewer than 180 helicopters

were exported, the vast majority being Mi-24s

and Mi-35s, some utilizing refurbished existing

fuselages of ex-Russian helicopters, combined

with new mission equipment and systems. During

this period, domestic deliveries accounted for

another 80 rotorcraft, 49 of which were the new-

generation Mi-28Ns.

Rostvertol rolled out 16 helicopters in 2009,

while the following year the figure grew to 23,

with sales reported to have exceeded US $500

million. In 2011, the number of deliveries reached

35 and in 2012 the figure rose to 48, and in 2013

the figure was 49.

FUTURE PROSPECTS According to Boris Slusar, director general of

Rostvertol, the company has a solid backlog of

Russian state orders until 2015 with prospects for

expanding it to 2018. This firm backlog for 2015

and 2016 is assumed to include no fewer than

three-dozen Mi-35Ms, four-dozen of Mi-28N/NE/ 

UBs and two-dozen of Mi-26T/T2s.

The list of new models slated to be launchedin foreseeable includes the Mi-28UB and Mi-26T2.

The former is an enhanced Mi-28N derivative

with dual controls and a number of cockpit

ergonomics improvements. The Mi-28UB retains

the mission avionics of its predecessor and is a

fully-capable combat machine, intended to be

mainly used for both conversion (type rating) and

operational training of new Mi-28N pilots. While

the original Mi-28N has controls only in the rear

cockpit, the Mi-28UB is also equipped with a full

set of controls in the forward cockpit occupied

by the instructor. In addition, both cockpits were

made wider by 140mm for improving aircrew

comfort, especially when flying on night vision

goggles (NVG); modified crash-resistant seats

were also installed in both cockpits.

The use of the Mi-28UB in the majority

of missions during the pilot conversion course is

expected to facilitate more effective training and

shorten the type rating effort two- to three-fold.

Currently, only experienced ‘Hind’ drivers are

being selected for converting to the ‘Havoc’ as

the later features much more complex handlingcharacteristics and is very temperamental

compared to its predecessor. The first Mi-28UB

(using the modified fuselage of a pre-series

Mi-28Ns taken from the second pre-series batch,

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Known deliveries of

newly-built or refurbished

military helicopters

by Rostvertol

2009: Mi-28N Russia – 10; Mi-35M Brazil – 3.

2010: Mi-28N Russia – 12; Mi-35M Brazil – 3; Mi-24P Myanmar – 4;

Mi-35P Indonesia – 3.

2011: Mi-28N Russia – 12; Mi-35M Russia – 4; Mi-35M Azerbaidjan – 4;

Mi-24P Myanmar – 4; Mi-35P Peru – 2; Mi-26T Russia - 4.

2012: Mi-28N Russia – 14; Mi-35M Russia – 16; Mi-35M Azerbaidjan – 8;

Mi-35M Brazil – 3; Mi-26 Russia – 8 (including two refurbished examples).

2013: Mi-28N Russia – 15 (including one Mi-28UB); Mi-35M Russia – 11;Mi-35MS Rusisa – 1; Mi-26 Russia – 7 (including three refurbished

examples); Mi-35M Iraq – 4; Mi-35M Azerbaidjan – 12.

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in modernising the production lines at the

company each year has amounted to between

US $50 and 70 million, used for recapitalisation

of the manufacturing equipment, represented

by sophisticated multi-function, numerically-

controlled metal-cutting machines, supplied by

Japanese and Western European companies.

The average salary of the skilled workers at the

production lines in 2013 and 2104 was about

US $1,100.

The location of the plant, however, has caused

some problems to the community in Rostov on

Don because now Rostvertol is entirely encircled

by residential districts and there have been a lot

of complaints by the local inhabitants on noise

pollution due to low-flying helicopters day and

night. As a result, a gradual relocation of the

production facilities has been planned, with brand-

new facilities being constructed at the territory

of an abandoned military airfield next to the city

of Bataysk, situated some 11nm (20km) south of

Rostov on Don. The flight test station is slated

to be the first facility to be relocated there – andthis effort is set to took place already during

2015 - while moving a proportion of the existing

production facilities to Bataysk is expected to take

between three and five years. v

serial number 02-10), took to the air in Rostov

on Don for the first time on 9 August 2013. The

new ‘Havoc’ derivative is set to enter into series

production in the first half of 2015. According to

the Russian Air Force (RuAF) Commander-in-

Chief, Lt Gen Victor Bondarev, between 2015 and

2020 the RAA branch is set to take on strength

between 60 and 80 Mi-28UBs.

It also should be noted that Algeria, the second

export customer for the Mi-28N’s export derivative,

designated Mi-28NE, has already expressed a

firm requirement that all the helicopters set to be

ordered should be equipped with dual controls.

The vastly improved Mi-26T2 heavy lift

workhorse was launched into production in early

2014, with first deliveries planed for the first quarter

of 2015. There are hints that two customers have

already voted for the Mi-26Ts, a domestic one (the

Russian MoD for the Army Aviation service) and an

export one, Algeria, which is set to take delivery of

the first production examples.

 According to Slusar, who has been at the

helm of the company since 2000 and has spenthis entire working life at Rostvertol (beginning

in 1960 as a final assembly line mechanic), all

the recent contracts the company has signed,

make for a good level of profitability. Investment

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New contracts in progress

Currently, Rostvertol has a healty orderbook for both domstic deliveries and export.

On the export side, Iraq is the main currennt customer, with an order for 28 Mi-35Ms

(eight of these were delivered in 2013 and 2014) and with 15 more Mi-28NEs (three

delivered in August 2014, with three more following suit by the year-end). Algeria is

another big-ticket customer, with an order for 42 Mi-28NEs, signed on 26 December2013 and another for six more Mi-26T2s dating from 26 June 2013. The first Mi-28NE

for Algeria was noticed undergoing flight testing at Rostvertol in October 2014, while

the first Algerian Mi-26T2 took to the air for the first time in late December that year.

The Russian Army Aviation also has placed (or is expected to place soon) an order for

an undisclosed number of Mi-26T2s.

In addiiton, as many as six Mi-35Ms are currnetly in production for Nigeria, ordered

in August 2014, which are set for deliverey in the second half of 2015. Rostvertol is

now also busy with the overhaul and modification of 10 Mi-35Ms for the type’s launch

customer, Venezuela.

The Russian Army Aaviation service has alsmost completed its Mi-35M deliveries,

taking in the period 2011–2014 as many as 48 examles out of 49 ordered. The next

domestic cusotmer for the type will be the Federal Security Service with an initial order

for two Mi-35Ms expected to be placed in 2015, with delivery requested until the end

of 2016. These new-gneration ‘Hinds’ will be used by the aviaion groups of the border

guard force which currently operates about two dozens of Mi-24V/Ps. The Russian

 Army Aviation will continue taking Mi-28Ns, with no less than a dozen remaining to be

delivered, together with 40 to 60 more Mi-28NUs with dual controls, and after 2017

the radicaly improved Mi-28NM derivative will be launched into production, but no

information about orders for it has been disclosed so far.The Mi-35M has ample chances to be sold to a number of countries which have

alredy expressed interest init such as Ghana, Tunisia, Mozabique and Pakistan,

while the list of the potential customers for the Mi-28NE in foreseable future includes

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Egypt.

 At the same time Rostvertol still deals with refurbshing of surplus Russian Mi-24s for

export customers. In 2114 two such exampples were converted to the Mi-35P verion

for Myanmar, set for delivery in early 2015.