Mi-26T helicopters, produced by Rostvertol, and developed at the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, a Russian Helicopters companies (part of State Corporation Rostec), are involved in UN and World Food Programme missions in the Republic of South Sudan. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders estimates that South Sudan is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. The UN children’s rights and emergency relief organization UNICEF has said that millions of children are suffering from a lack of food and medical services. The international community is attempting to help, by sending humanitarian aid to the African country.

The humanitarian mission in South Sudan began in August 2014, and is set to continue throughout 2015. Four Mi-26T helicopters are already on location in the republic, with one more scheduled to join them in March this year. The helicopters are owned by Russian commercial operators and are used to transport food, equipment and fuel to the regions affected.

Each helicopter can carry up to 12 tonnes of cargo in one flight, the optimal cargo load for the local climate. At times, temperatures in some parts of South Sudan reach 40°С. The advantage of the Mi-26T in this region is that these heavy helicopters can land on unprepared sites anywhere in South Sudan.

The heaviest lifting series-produced helicopter in the world, the Mi-26T, is unrivaled in its technical capabilities and efficiency. Helicopters of this type are used in a range of operations including transport, evacuation, fire-fighting missions. The Mi-26T can carry up to 20 tonnes of cargo internally or on an external sling.

The Mi-26T is constantly being improved. Currently, flight tests are underway on the modernized Mi-26T2. This helicopter can be operated by a reduced crew, is equipped with the latest avionics and can be used at any time of day or night. It is more ergonomic, increasing its operational efficiency.

Today, helicopters produced by Russian Helicopters are used in most of the UN’s important, emergency missions around the world, and have built up an impressive operational record. These operations chiefly involve the Mi-26T transport helicopter, Mi-8/17 multirole helicopters, and specialized Ka-32 models. In total, over 150 Russian-made helicopters are used in UN missions.

The urgent nature of UN missions means that helicopters need to be delivered in very tight timelines. Russian-made helicopters are easy to transport: they can be rapidly disassembled for transportation by plane and re-assembled on-site. Russian Helicopters’ products do not need to be stored in hangars and can be operated a distance from their service centres, as maintenance work can be carried out by the flight and engineering crew independently.

Rostvertol, a Russian Helicopters company, produces a wide range of Mi- helicopters and carries out repair and modernisation work on helicopters, supplies aviation engineering materials and provides related services. Currently Rostvertol is involved in the series production of new generation military helicopter Mi-28N Night Hunter (Mi-28NE export variant); the Mi-35M combat support helicopter; and the world’s heaviest multirole transport helicopter – the Mi-26T.

Russian Helicopters, (part of State Corporation Rostec), is one of the global leaders in helicopter production and the only helicopter design and production powerhouse in Russia. Russian Helicopters was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Moscow. The company comprises five helicopter production facilities, two design bureaus, a spare parts production and repair facility, as well as an aftersale service branch responsible for maintenance and repair in Russia and all over the world. Its helicopters are popular among Russian ministries and state authorities (Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Emergency Control Ministry), operators (Gazpromavia, UTair), major Russian corporations. In 2013 its IFRS revenues increased 10% to RUB 138.3 billion. Deliveries reached 275 helicopters.

State Corporation Rostec is a Russian corporation founded in 2007 for the purpose of promoting the development, production and export of hi-tech civilian and military industry products. It comprises 700 organisations, nine of which have now been formed as holding companies of the military-industrial complex, five of them are involved in civil industries and 22 are directly controlled. Rostec’s portfolio includes recognised brands such as Avtovaz, Kamaz, Russian Helicopters, and VSMPO-AVISMA. Rostec’s organisations are located in 60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and supply their products to the markets of more than 70 countries. The revenue of Rostec in 2013 amounted to RUB 1.04 trillion. The tax deductions into the treasuries at all levels exceeded RUB 138 billion