MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The company Russian Helicopters is currently working on the creation of a new commercial high-speed medium rotor craft, the deputy head of the corporation said Tuesday.
According to company's Deputy CEO for Production Andrey Shibitov, after three years of development, work on the Russian Advanced Commercial Helicopter (RACHEL) has been divided into two parts — "the program of research and development to achieve high rates of speed (at the first stage, 360-400 kilometers per hour [225-250 miles per hour], at the second- 400-450 kph and above), and a program to create a commercial helicopter."
Theoretical research has shown that the cost of the rotor craft flying at such speeds is likely to be "very high", Shibitov said. Therefore, the company's key priority now is making the helicopter's operating costs reasonable.
Russia will reportedly spend some 7 billion rubles ($140 million) to build this new high-speed helicopter.
The RACHEL program was launched to build an eventual replacement for the Mi-8/17 helicopter family. The new vehicle will be a multipurpose helicopter and is expected to be built in different versions.
