Russian Helicopters delivered the first serially produced Mi-38 helicopter with a highly comfortable cabin to Gazprombank Leasing, corporate website reports. The helicopter, built by Kazan Helicopters, will be operated by Russian Helicopter Systems. The delivery ceremony for the first serial Mi-38 was held at the Kazan Helicopters facility.
“The newest Mi-38 is a multi-purpose helicopter that will fill the empty niche between medium Mi-8 and heavy Mi-26 models. It can be used for transportation of cargo and passengers, search and rescue operations, and as a flying hospital or an offshore helicopter for delivering specialists to oil production platforms at sea. The first serial produced machine will be used for business class transportation. We have already demonstrated this helicopter with highly comfortable cabin to the leaders of Russia and foreign countries. The superior flight performance characteristics and competitive price will guarantee that Mi-38 will find its place in the helicopter fleet of Russia, our partners in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America and other regions,” Industrial Director of Rostec Aviation Cluster Anatoly Serdyukov said.
“The delivery of the first serial Mi-38 is an important step, confirming that Kazan Helicopters is ready to serial delivery of this type of machine for both commercial operators and governments. The demand forecast of potential buyers for Mi-38 by 2030 is over 100 aircraft,” Russian Helicopters CEO Andrei Boginsky noted.
The first serial Mi-38 helicopter was introduced to the public at MAKS 2019 International Air Show. Mi-38’s foreign debut took place during the Dubai Airshow 2019 in presence of the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Mi-38 is equipped with a modern navigation system and satellite navigation system. The cockpit of the helicopter is equipped with five versatile LCD color screens to ensure the effective display of information. The flight range of the new helicopter is up to 1.2K kilometers (with additional fuel tanks). With its maximum takeoff weight of 15.6 tons, the helicopter can carry 5 tons of payload on board or on an external sling.