At the HeliRussia 2013 helicopter show held in Moscow in May, the HeliVert joint venture, which had been set up by Russian Helicopters JSC and AgustaWestland, unveiled its first AW139 helicopter assembled in Russia.

AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters signed the preliminary agreement on establishing the HeliVert joint venture to make AW139 commercial helicopters in Russia at the Farnborough air show in July 2008. The basic legal documents governing the activities of HeliVert were signed during the previous Le Bourget air show two years ago – in June 2011, and personnel of the HeliVert JV were trained in Italy, at the training centre of AgustaWestland, from January to March 2012.

The MOTOR SICH joint stock company in Zaporozhye, Ukraine, carries on upgrade the world’s most popular turboshaft engine, the TV3-117VMA, which production it runs. New versions of the MOTOR SICH-developed TV3-117VMA-SBM1V family are designed to re-engine the existing helicopters of various types. The new engines resulted from a heavy upgrade of the TV3-117VMA with the use of design solutions tried previously on the TV3-117VMA-SBM1 turboprop that powers the An-140 regional passenger plane.

The TV3-117VMA-SBM1V engine designed to power the Mi-8MTV (Mi-17, Mi-171) and Mi-24 (Mi-35) was certificated by the IAC Aircraft Registry in September 2007. It also passed its official bench tests in Russia in June 2011, proving its compliance with the requirements specification of the Russian Defence Ministry.

24 May 2013 saw the Tashkent Aircraft Production Corp. (TAPC) delivered the sixth – and last – Ilyushin Il-114-100 turboprop passenger aircraft under the 2007 contact to the Uzbekistan Airways, the flag carrier of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The aircraft with c/n 02-09 was made as far back as a year ago and conducted its maiden flight in Tashkent on 11 July 2012. However, prior to its acceptance, the customer wished a number of modifications introduced, which had taken almost 10 months. Finally, the work was completed this spring, and the aircraft (reg. UK-91109) shall start scheduled services in Uzbekistan soon. In spite of the backlog remaining at the plant, the aircraft is likely to be the last Il-114 and the last new plane at all  made and flight-tested in Tashkent.

Based on the current orderbook, it is a safe bet to say that the Mil Mi-8 (Mi-17, Mi-171) helicopters output by the Russian Helicopters holding company’s plants in Kazan and Ulan-Ude will have remained high in the near future. To maintain the machines’ competitive edge further down the line, the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP) are performing a heavy upgrade of the model.

The upgraded version, designed for commercial operators and designated as Mi-171A2, will get an advanced powerplant made up of VK-2500PS-03 engines, the Safir auxiliary power unit, advanced composite main rotor blades, X-shaped tail rotor and up-to-date KBO-17 avionics suite including the glass cockpit with five multifunction displays. The under-slung cargo lifting capacity of the advanced helicopter will grow from 4 t to 5 t, and its cruising speed will increase by 13%. There will be a considerable improvement in its operating characteristics, e.g. the main rotor blade service life is to surge by 4.5 times, that of the engine will double, and the number of rotor system lubricating points will be halved. The helicopter will carry 24 passengers (18 if advanced crash-absorbing seats are used).

A new customer for Russian amphibian Beriev Be-200 has appeared. On 23 May 2013, the Beriev company (a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation) and the Russian Defence Ministry made a government contract for six aircraft of the type for the air arm of the Russian Navy. The amphibians are to be delivered during 2014–16, including two Be-200ChS aircraft and four modified Be-200PS (the latter lacking the fire-fighting capability). The value of the contract totalled 8.4 billion rubles (about $240 million), with the Be-200ChS unit price averaging $43.5 million and that of the Be-200PS – $44.7 million.