Mi-26 in a special military operation and the prospects for modernization

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Mi-26 in a special military operation and the prospects for modernization
Mi-26 in the Kharkiv region. Source: youtube.com


General Staff Reserve


During the events in the Kharkiv region, which were designated by the Ministry of Defense as "regrouping of Russian troops stationed in the Balakleya and Izyum regions to build up efforts in the Donetsk direction." During the implementation of the plan, according to the General Staff, a number of distracting and demonstration measures were envisaged with the designation of the actual actions of the troops. We will not discuss the effectiveness of actions, but some military equipment used in the operation deserves special attention.



In particular, the world's largest mass-produced Mi-26 helicopters, which, judging by the footage from the combat zone, quickly transferred equipment and personnel to repel the Ukrainian offensive. It is not known what the helicopter crews were actually doing - they were transferring equipment or, as the RF Ministry of Defense mentions, they participated in "distraction and demonstration events with the designation of the real actions of the troops." In this case, the military transport Mi-26s acted as a reserve of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and, it is worth noting, the vehicles are perfect for this.

In the Kharkiv region, Mi-26s (judging by official personnel) were deployed, in addition to personnel, demining installations UR-77 "Meteorite". The weight of the armored vehicle is 15,5 tons. It's typically offensive weapon, which, however, can also be used defensively. Of course, if not for its intended purpose, but to destroy the enemy with several hundred kilograms of explosives in the demining cord. The UR-77 is especially effective in urban combat conditions. Also on the footage of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the transfer of MT-LB with a twin anti-aircraft gun was lit up.






Mi-26 in the Kharkiv region. Source: youtube.com

What is the Mi-26? This is a super-heavy class helicopter capable of lifting up to 20 tons into the air. If the pilots and technicians try very hard, then the giant will take on board 25 tons. In 1982, two years after the launch of the helicopter in a series, 14 world records were set on the machine, including lifting a 4-ton load by 100 meters. In the same record series, the Mi-25 lifted 10 tons to 26 meters.

Under normal conditions, no one overloads the Mi-26 like that. A typical mission of a heavy truck is a load of 15 tons, thrown over 500 km. The fuel reserve in this case is 5–10% of the calculated one. By the way, on the footage of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the transported UR-77 just fits into this scheme.



The main analogues of a much lower carrying capacity are the CH-53 Sea Stallion and CH-47 Chinook. Source: en.wikipedia.org

But let's get back to the limits. For comparison, the American heavy counterparts CH-53A / D Sea Stallion and CH-47 Chinook on the external sling and inside the fuselage carry up to 13,5 and 10,3 tons, respectively. That is, all other things being equal, NATO vehicles will have to make two flights or use a couple of vehicles in those situations where the Mi-26 can handle it alone and in much less time.

The Mil Design Bureau car takes on board up to 120 paratroopers, and the "Americans" - no more than 64. In fairness, the Americans partially leveled this shortcoming with a larger number of assembled equipment. CH-53 produced more than 500 pieces, "Chinook" - more than 1 copies. The Mi-200 sold over 26 aircraft.

The key advantage of the Russian rotorcraft is the ability to transport cargo that no helicopter in the world can lift. For example, in 2009, an external sling helicopter evacuated a pair of downed CH-47 Chinooks in Afghanistan. The construction of super-heavy helicopters has become a good tradition of the national aviation school. More about the predecessor of the protagonist, the air "truck" Mi-6, the Americans said:

"The new Russian giant can lift the largest Western helicopter with a full load."

Since then, little has changed - if the Mi-26 pulls up, it will tear off the ground CH-47 Chinook weighing 23 tons. And once again, for comparison, the maximum takeoff weight of a Russian heavy truck can reach 56 tons.

Fighting "cow"


In the army, the Mi-26 received the nickname "Cow" for its characteristic profile and sluggishness. However, this is only an external resemblance - the helicopter, despite the past 42 years since the first serial flight, is a modern and dynamic machine. Two motors with a capacity of 11,4 thousand liters. With. each provide a top speed of 295 km/h.

Mainly for foreign customers, the Mi-26T2 version was developed, created in 2011 after decades of oblivion. It so happened that in Soviet times and early Russian, only two modifications were put into operation - the army Mi-26 and the civilian one - 26T. It is they who now form the backbone of the army aviation VKS and civil sector.

The Mi-26T2 variant is distinguished, first of all, by modern electronic and flight equipment, which allows confident piloting at night. The crew in connection with extensive automation reduced from five to two crew members - the commander and pilot-navigator. If it is necessary to work with an external suspension, a flight operator is added.

In the airborne transport army Mi-26, the crew consists of a commander, a right pilot, a navigator, a flight engineer and a flight engineer. Developers from the Moscow Helicopter Plant. M. L. Mil, the Rostov Helicopter Plant and the Russian Helicopters holding company equipped the Mi-26T2 in 2011 with a “glass” cockpit with five displays and other ergonomic infrastructure.

An important option, especially in demand in the conditions of a special operation, are night vision goggles with a 3rd generation image intensifier tube. According to the developers, in the dark, the helicopter can fly at an extremely low altitude, without fear of power transmission line masts and trees. The limitation for flying at night, like all other helicopters, are power lines.

Of course, no one releases "cows" on a solo flight. On the footage of the Ministry of Defense, Mi-26s of various modifications in the Kharkiv region were accompanied by combat Mi-28s and Ka-52s. The helicopter does not have standard on-board armament, but it does have a partially armored cockpit and an airborne defense complex "President-S". It consists of a missile attack warning station, a laser station for optoelectronic suppression, a device for ejecting aviation consumables or, more commonly, firing off heat traps.






Mi-26. Source: en.wikipedia.org

The Mi-26 was also operated by our main adversary for some time, however, at a time when relations between countries were more like friendship. In Ukraine, after the collapse of the USSR, 28 Mi-26 helicopters immediately remained. By the beginning of the 2000s, the calendar overhaul life of the machines ended, and they no longer took to the skies. According to information from various sources, seventeen Ukrainian heavy trucks are in Kalinov, eleven are at the Konotop aircraft repair plant. Export versions of the helicopter serve in the air forces of Algeria, Venezuela, India, China, Jordan, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Congo and Equatorial Guinea.

The most modern version of the Mi-26T2V, designed for the VSK of Russia, is playing on the field of high-tech equipment. The helicopter differs from the previous version by the navigation and flight complex NPK90-2V, which significantly increases both the piloting itself and its safety. Interestingly, the military refused to reduce the crew to three people, although the onboard equipment easily allowed this. To combat enemy MANPADS, the latest helicopter is equipped with the Vitebsk airborne defense system with an ultraviolet direction finder, a laser suppression system and the usual heat traps.

The Mi-26T2V first took to the air in 2018, at the same time at the Army forum it was first presented to the general public. Serial production started a year later. On the footage of the official chronicle, heavy helicopters transferred equipment in the Kharkiv region not only in the daytime, but also at night, which suggests the use of the latest modification. At night, the Mi-26T2V works much more efficiently and safely.

Future


What are the prospects for the Mi-26? It is interesting to consider the possibility of modernizing a heavy helicopter in connection with the American Joint Transport Rotorcraft (JTR) program. This unrealized project appeared after the first war in Iraq and provided for the creation of a transport helicopter with a carrying capacity of 22,3 tons - this is the mass of a standard 6-meter container. Moreover, the transportation was planned both on the external and on the internal sling. They planned a tiltrotor scheme with four rotors. The promising machine was supposed to replace the CH-53A / D Sea Stallion and CH-47 Chinook mentioned above.

Customers from the Pentagon gave the developers truly fabulous requirements for the car. The range of the ferry flight was at least 3 km, that is, the equipped helicopter had to fly over the Atlantic without refueling. Cruising speed should reach 890–400 km/h. For a rotorcraft, even now, this is an almost unattainable bar, and for the mid-450s, it’s generally out of the realm of non-science fiction. As the American engineers rightly mentioned:

“Unfortunately, the only helicopter in the world that has the ability to lift a fully loaded container and perform the required task is the Russian Mi-26. However, even it has a number of design-related characteristics that lead to unacceptable performance when used in this role.”

Despite such a critical assessment, the specialists of the Moscow Aviation Institute decided to simulate how fundamental changes in the design of the helicopter should be in order to comply with the JTR requirements.

First of all, it turned out that the tiltrotor scheme fashionable in the West for super-heavy rotorcraft transporters is not suitable - the weight return is insufficient. Therefore, only schemes of the traditional format with a high weight return and a low specific load on the main rotor. The Mi-26 fulfills one requirement of the American program by default - a 2,43x2,43x6 m container enters the cargo compartment without problems. It is only required to strengthen the loading hoists that run along the ceiling of the transport compartment. The situation is more complicated with motors, the power of which seriously limits the lifting of the specified container, especially at temperatures above 20 degrees.



What happens if the Bell V-22 Osprey is multiplied by two? This is how American engineers saw the rotorcraft of the JTR project

MAI engineers suggest that an increase in the power of each engine from 11,4 thousand liters. With. up to 14,8 thousand liters. With. will meet the requirements of the JTR. In terms of rate of climb of 2,54 m / s, first of all. The motors will also ensure the takeoff of a loaded helicopter from platforms at an altitude of up to 3 meters. Engine designers need to contrive so that the specific fuel consumption does not exceed 200 g / l. With. in hour. For comparison, now the Mi-165 burns 26 g/l. With. per hour at much lower power. The requirements for a flight speed of up to 195 km / h are not even able to fulfill the deeply modernized Mi-400.

Local improvements in aerodynamic quality are planned to be achieved through a new rotor profile with a 3% increase in efficiency. The retractable landing gear will reduce the helicopter's harmful drag. All this suggests that the potential for modernization of the honored rotorcraft is far from being exhausted - the Mi-26, if necessary, can meet the most stringent future requirements. Therefore, the version of the Mi-26T2V should be far from final.
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38 comments
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  1. +3
    16 September 2022 04: 51
    I observed the first flight and then the landing of the Mi-26 of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with a 20-tonne on an external sling good
    1. +3
      16 September 2022 05: 56
      A couple flew by yesterday afternoon. The domestic cattle were terrified by the noise laughing
    2. 0
      31 October 2022 18: 46
      Several times I observed MI-26 in flight with a load, just in flight, landing ... - "banana" - NERVOUSLY "smoking on the sidelines." That would restore the production of MI-10 and V-12 ...
      SHAKES EVERYTHING!!! - FLIGHT, LOAD, sound of work!!!
  2. +3
    16 September 2022 05: 09
    In the army, the Mi-26 received the nickname "Cow" for its characteristic profile and sluggishness.

    The helicopter pilots themselves consider this nickname offensive and prefer to call the machine "Container".
    1. +1
      16 September 2022 15: 26
      The Mi-6 was called the "cow": the full face of it with its wing was quite "horned", and most importantly, when the engines were started, it emitted a characteristic "Mm-u-u".
  3. -17
    16 September 2022 05: 23
    He would have to refuel in the air and for the depth of reconnaissance just right
    1. +14
      16 September 2022 05: 40
      Quote: Saboteur_Navy
      He would have to refuel in the air and for the depth of reconnaissance just right

      Mi-26-long-range reconnaissance? belay belay belay stop stop stop
      1. +1
        16 September 2022 15: 27
        Read more carefully: "pigeon".
        1. +1
          16 September 2022 20: 09
          Quote: Quzmi4
          Read more carefully: "pigeon".

          Or maybe you are not careful? Maybe blue? Well, like in the song... wink
    2. +3
      16 September 2022 05: 54
      Well, if you fantasize about this topic, then why refuel in the air? If he takes a 20-foot container on board, then what prevents him from loading a tank container with fuel into the cargo compartment and removing the hose connection?
      1. -2
        16 September 2022 09: 45
        Risky if there is a company on board with a depth of reconnaissance
        1. 0
          20 September 2022 10: 07
          Learn Russian already. It will help in life
      2. Eug
        +1
        16 September 2022 12: 16
        There were shooting exercises,
        on which the Mi-26 with 10 tons. fuel and related equipment refueled a tank company in a raid on the "rear of the enemy."
        1. +3
          16 September 2022 12: 37
          In Afghanistan, Mi-6s often flew in threes: one cargo and two tankers. In many parts, fuel could only be delivered by helicopter.
          PS
          But to Kabul from the USSR there was a pipe (mostly next to the road) through which kerosene was pumped. That is, transport was not needed for its transportation, only repair teams to replace the disabled sections.
          1. 0
            17 September 2022 10: 28
            Mi-26 - can carry BMD-4 or BTR-82A
            According to the article with convertiplanes - really a dead end direction
            in the USA, even a tiltrotor with 6 lifting engines is being developed
            in theory, such a device could carry a maximum of 2 Stryker armored personnel carriers
            but this is definitely already a very big cow - it will be vulnerable to MANPADS and ATGMs
            especially when landing in the flesh before the RPG
            device not for the near edge
            and fuel consumption will be 26 times more than that of the Mi-6 and the load will be 2 times more
            even for the military - logistically (the military does not consider the economy) is not profitable
            - you can't save fuel
    3. 0
      17 October 2022 12: 43
      Mi 6 would be more suitable for this, it is smaller and the speed is higher.
      1. 0
        17 October 2022 13: 23
        Not suitable for the word at all for deep reconnaissance, you need to fly far, and load more property, one tol weighs up to a fig
  4. Eug
    +2
    16 September 2022 06: 23
    And what about the resource of engines? D-136 was produced in Zaporizhzhya (Ukraine) ... the infa flashed in the water about the development of a new one in the Russian Federation, but that's all.
    1. +5
      16 September 2022 08: 24
      2018 news.
      In May of this year, the head of the Russian Helicopters holding, Andrey Boginsky, said that flight tests of the remotorized Mi-26s would take place after 2022. As a new engine in a heavy helicopter, it is planned to use the PD-12V, created on the basis of a gas generator from the PD-14 (this engine designed for the Russian advanced narrow-body aircraft MS-21).

      https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3248518.html

      But then they began to change horses at the crossing.
      The start of flight tests of the Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter with the PD-12V engine was scheduled for 2023. Their completion and approval for the production of an experimental batch of PD-12V was planned for 2025.


      In the spring of this year, information appeared that instead of the PD-12V TVD, during the remotorization of the Mi-26 helicopter, the PD-8V TVD, a version of the PD-8 engine for helicopters, will be installed on the machine. The PD-8 engine is based on technical solutions implemented in the certified PD-14 engine.

      https://vpk.name/news/622835_plany_sozdaniya_perspektivnogo_vertoletnogo_turbovalnogo_dvigatelya_pd-8v.html

      Based on the example of the replacement of the PD-26V engine with the PD-12V on Mi-8 family helicopters, it can be concluded that defense industry enterprises cannot cope with the surging volumes of urgent import substitution.
  5. +7
    16 September 2022 07: 48
    CH-53A / D, if it remained somewhere, then only in Israel and with the Germans. Already decades use the more advanced CH-53E, and now it has been replaced by the CH-53K. The difference with earlier modifications is huge.
    And this irrepressible desire to compare them with the Mi-26. CH-53s are based on helicopter carriers and aircraft carriers, have a standard air refueling system, like Chinook for special forces. Both are used in special operations. And what about all this in the Mi-26? Maybe these helicopters were designed for different tasks, and it's time to stop comparing them already?
  6. +5
    16 September 2022 09: 16
    I look at such machines and surprise: Mi6 and Mi 26 and An8 and an12, the past more developed civilization was able to make in a fairly short time and mass-produce 300 pieces (from 0), and the Russian Federation has a problem with restarting the Il76 (yes, updated, but, that’s all same IL76) and even worse is the problem with IL114 and IL112 .....! And what about the analogue of the Mi 26? It seems to me that the UAC is currently unable to do so.
    1. -4
      16 September 2022 10: 11
      Quote: Zaurbek
      the Russian Federation has a problem with restarting the IL76 (yes, updated, but still the IL76)

      What's the problem?
      Stream production has been established - I don’t want to take it.
      Quote: Zaurbek
      even worse is the problem with IL114 and IL112

      Yes, there is a delay with the engine, which is already being solved. TV7-117ST- turned out to be too innovative, with many unknowns...
      Quote: Zaurbek
      And what about the analogue of the Mi 26? It seems to me that the UAC is currently unable to do so.

      There is no urgent need for the Mi-26 now. There are more important tasks - a transporter instead of the An-124.
      1. +4
        16 September 2022 10: 15
        The question is not in the development of IL76 ... but in production. Look at plans in units, promises in units per year, and real units per year. Compare also the terms for Il114 / 112 and the terms for their counterparts in a past life - An24, 26 ... About complex projects like An124 .. let's keep quiet for now
        1. -3
          16 September 2022 11: 29
          Quote: Zaurbek
          The question is not in the development of IL76 ... but in production.

          Are you blind
          written about production on the production line, which this year has earned in full. What happened in previous years does not matter anymore.

          Quote: Zaurbek
          Compare also the terms for Il114/112 and the terms for their counterparts in a past life - An24, 26 ...

          An-24 was developed on the basis of existing components and assemblies, with the full cooperation of the USSR aviation industry. And the engines were already in stock.
          The An-26 is a burp of the An-24, not a transport aircraft.
          Quote: Zaurbek
          About complex projects like An124 .. let's keep quiet for now

          Why be silent if they are developing both the engine and the airframe and the filling.
    2. +1
      16 September 2022 22: 47
      Quote: Zaurbek
      I look at such machines and surprise: Mi6 and Mi 26 and An8 and an12, the past more developed civilization was able to make in a fairly short time and mass-produce 300 pieces (from 0), and the Russian Federation has a problem with restarting the Il76 (yes, updated, but, that’s all same IL76) and even worse is the problem with IL114 and IL112 .....! And what about the analogue of the Mi 26? It seems to me that the UAC is currently unable to do so.

      There are no personnel, even for factories. All economists/lawyers.
      1. 0
        17 September 2022 22: 34
        I do .... Sausage ... And the problems are the same
        1. -1
          9 December 2022 19: 57
          So get ready. No one is obliged to give you frames for free.
  7. +4
    16 September 2022 12: 12
    They forgot about the B-12. I wonder how he is in the light of the American program.
    1. +3
      16 September 2022 18: 41
      Just a monumental car, when I'm in Monino I definitely visit the Air Force Museum. And the V-12 is one of my favorite exhibits, it stands at the entrance, the blades in the forest itself on the site, it’s also Myasishchev’s M-50, it seems to be the largest there in general, and the T-4 Sukhoi just flew in from space.
  8. +4
    16 September 2022 15: 20
    For Henry.
    And what did this "production line" give? 2 (maybe 3) aircraft
    in year. People who are at least a little familiar with production understand that
    that it's just puffing out the cheeks and sticking out the fingers.
  9. +2
    16 September 2022 18: 34
    I heard another version of the name MI-26 - ladybug
  10. +2
    16 September 2022 19: 57
    I remember how once I had to fly from Mozdok to Khankala ... A lot of people accumulated on the transfer, only two days later I managed to get on board. It's a pity that there were no cameras then, it's something! The pilot came in an embrace with the head of the shipment, one of the crew got out in a pioneer tie and in shorts, with a cry - yes, I'll take everyone !!! First, separately women (value in these conditions) through the side, and then five in a row and go! They even filled it with an aparel, when it was closed, the whole gang collapsed, I experienced such a crush only in a Moscow bus in the 80s. And given the spirit and condition ... don't give a damn! Rise is something! for a long time he struggled to get up in place, then, with a run-up jump, he somehow broke away at the end of the strip near the radar station. Well, the flight, low near the piece of iron with the desire to smack! After that, if possible, I tried to climb into an armored train or into a column! Technique is great!
    1. 0
      16 September 2022 22: 07
      Quote: lithium17
      First separately bab ...........
      Common situation.
      Shindant. An-26 accelerates, with a howl, noise at the end of the runway stops. They run. Some woman, on the stairs loaded into the plane. They turned in the opposite direction, accelerated, flew away.
    2. +1
      16 September 2022 22: 58
      Quote: lithium17
      I remember how once I had to fly from Mozdok to Khankala ... A lot of people accumulated on the transfer, only two days later I managed to get on board. It's a pity that there were no cameras then, it's something! The pilot came in an embrace with the head of the shipment, one of the crew got out in a pioneer tie and in shorts, with a cry - yes, I'll take everyone !!! First, separately women (value in these conditions) through the side, and then five in a row and go! They even filled it with an aparel, when it was closed, the whole gang collapsed, I experienced such a crush only in a Moscow bus in the 80s. And given the spirit and condition ... don't give a damn! Rise is something! for a long time he struggled to get up in place, then, with a run-up jump, he somehow broke away at the end of the strip near the radar station. Well, the flight, low near the piece of iron with the desire to smack! After that, if possible, I tried to climb into an armored train or into a column! Technique is great!

      I also had to fly this route, they were notably rammed, there were only standing places, but the army men were rarely overloaded, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations were constantly. On one flight, several organisms got sick, the stomach gave out the opera "Rigoletto", followed by a chain reaction of another 20 people, that's when I really felt "inside the Cow" :)
    3. 0
      17 October 2022 12: 52
      At 95, I flew from Mozdok to Grozny, together with the KShM based on an armored personnel carrier. Back to the Mi 6, the pilot of the political officer from the Yegorlyk regiment, loaded it in full and from a takeoff run and a turn to the side of the mountain, up the slope and also down the cabin back and forth, then at low level to Mozdok. I liked flying the Mi 6 more. Yes, this several times Chita Nerchinsk or back.
  11. -3
    16 September 2022 22: 46
    What nonsense is written at the beginning? What demining machine, what the hell is offensive weapons? Are you writing about a helicopter? Or porridge in the head?
    1. 0
      19 September 2022 14: 59
      American non-coaxial helicopters with two main rotors have been and will be less reliable than a helicopter with one main rotor, and a scheme where 4 screws are even less reliable than a twin-rotor one, so we don’t need to copy them, by the way, projects for equipping helicopters with an additional pusher propeller also have a lot cons
  12. -1
    19 October 2022 10: 51
    He recently flew over my dacha (a lot of helicopters fly over it to the south and from him), from his engines the noise was a couple of minutes (if not more) before approaching and a couple of minutes after leaving, warning everyone in advance about his approach / removal . In the military version, he clearly needs some kind of sound suppression system for running engines to reduce noise, because he is an excellent target for MANPADS. Those. the helicopter is clearly for rear work or civil, but not for the transfer of troops to the front line, I have no idea how they are transferring something on it in the Kherson region (according to statements). It is a pity that the Yak-24 did not go into production at one time, with the development of engine building it would now be an interesting "car".

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