Engine manufacturer Motor Sich has already achieved certification of a re-engined Mi-8 in the Ukraine and is now targetting Russian certification by the end of December 2012 – the company announced at the recent Aviasvit XXI-2012 International Aerospace Show in Kiev.

He said that the Ukrainian certificate could be validated by the Russian certificate body by late 2012, and estimates the re-engine market at 2,000 helicopters with the upgrade cost at around $2-3 million per aircraft.

THe standard engine for the Mi-8 has been the TV2-117, originally designed by the Isotov Design Bureau, who ran the first prototype in 1962.  Not long after, Isotov were taken over by Klimov, and Motor Sich are working with Klimov on the latest variant.  The TV2-117 developed a maximum of 1,700hp, while the new TV3-117MA-SBM1V has a 2½ minute rating of 2,800hp, a 65% increase.  The new engine weighs in at 295kg, some 39kg lighter than the TV2-117, and just these two statistics point to the benefits of an engine upgrade.  The full specifications of the TV3-117MA-SBM1V can be found here.

Motor Sich is facing accusations by the Russian media of promoting a “Ukrainian model of the Mi-8” in violation of the intellectual property rights of the helicopter type being Russian.  The company denies this, pointing to the fact that the Mi-8 is a former Soviet Union helicopter and not a Russian one.

Nikolai Vanesev – Helihub.com Moscow correspondent