중고 기체도 구하기 힘든 Mi-17 Hip Helicopter...

 

이번 주 발행된 AW&ST 紙에서 보도한 중앙아시아와 중동 지역에서 맹활약(?) 하고 있는 Utility Helicopter Mi-17 Hip

Helicopter 관련 소식을 소개합니다.

 

아프가니스탄, 이라크등의 고지 산악지역 및 고온 건조한 기후 조건에서 강한 모래바람을 이겨내면서 수송 및 작전에

투입되는 Mi-17 이 훌륭한 성능을 발휘하고 있다는 내용입니다. 또한 저렴한 운용비용과 정비 용이성으로 인해 UN 을

비롯한 민간 업체들로 부터 꾸준한 확보 경쟁으로 인해, 중고 기체의 경우 최근 2년사이 가격이 폭등하여 약 650만불에

이른다 합니다. 또한 신조기의 경우에도 1기당 현재 가격은 9백만불~1천만불에 이르며, 이 역시 2012년 이후에나 인도

가 가능하다고 합니다.

 

유럽을 비롯한 서방권에서 제작하는 첨단 전자장비가 결합된 항전장비와 엔진을 장착한 중형 헬기들이 이러한 가혹한

기후 조건에서의 운용시 발생되는 잦은 고장으로 인해 가동률이 떨어지는 반면에, 단순하면서도 강력한 엔진을 장착한

Mi-17 헬기가 중동 지역과 중앙아시아에서 인기를 끌고 있다는 것으로 이해되는 기사입니다.

 

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Hip Demand

Hot and high operating needs drive up interest in newer Mi-17s

Aviation Week & Space Technology, 09/13/2010

Author : Maxim Pyadushkin

 

The popularity of the Mi-17 Hip for operations in the difficult operating conditions of Afghanistan is driving up prices for used versions of the rotorcraft and has created an order surge for Russian Helicopters.

 

According to Russian experts, international coalition forces, private contractors and those operating under U.N. contracts in Afghanistan are flying 300 Mil Mi-8MTs (known as Mi-17s in the export market). The type is also becoming the backbone of the Afghan National Army Air Force.

 

Some Russian operators, such as UTair Aviation, fly Mi-8MTs under U.N. contracts in many regions of the world. UTair, the largest Russian helicopter carrier, has recently increased its Hip fleet with an order for 40 Mi-171 helos, deliveries of which should be completed this year.

 

All of this puts pressure on the Russian market, where the Mi-8 remains the most widely used rotorcraft.

 

The high demand is only for the latest version of the family, the Mi-8MT, due to its ability to operate in hot and high conditions. Compared to the earlier Mi-8T version, the Mi-8MT has more powerful TV3-117 turboshaft engines, a new gearbox, improved tail rotor and control linkage, and extended fuel tanks. These improvements raised the Mi-8MT’s operational ceiling and increased payload capacity by one metric ton. Production of this version commenced in 1977, but the design received an upgrade in the late 1980s for high-altitude operations, resulting in the Mi-8MTV.

 

“It is impossible to buy this modification on the pre-owned marked,” one Russian helicopter dealer tells Aviation Week. Two years ago, a pre-owned Mi-8MT could be bought on the Russian market for $4-4.2 million, but now the average price is $6.5 million, he says.

 

The spares stock is also almost exhausted; a helicopter that needs to be overhauled before starting operations costs about $4.5 million, the dealer says. The main sources of available aircraft are the fleets of bankrupt operators or those that have switched to Western-made types. The Russian defense ministry sometimes sells its surplus equipment and such helicopters are highly valued due to their low accumulated flight hours. No more than 20-30 deals for Hips were reportedly concluded on the Russian pre-owned market in 2009.

 

The high demand for used Mi-8MTs is amplified by the shortage and high price of new rotorcraft, as well. Russian Helicopters, which controls the national helicopter industry, rolled out 139 Hips in 2009, but company CEO Andrei Shibitov says his production facilities are booked with orders until 2012. For the last three years, the price of a newly assembled Mi-8 rose to $9-10 million from $3.5 million.

 

There is concern that prices will level off as demand in Afghanistan becomes saturated. “They will hardly grow further, as the current price levels already raise questions about the operational profitability” of using the Mi-17, says Dmitry Ermilov, deputy head of Soyuzavia, a Moscow-based aircraft dealer.

 

Nevertheless, the market is unlikely to collapse when military operations in Afghanistan end. Boris Bychkov, director general of risk-management company Airclaims CIS, projects that needs of the Russian oil and gas sector will help assure long-term demand.

 

At the beginning of this year, 1,159 Mi-8-family helos were registered in the country, comprising almost 55% of the Russian commercial helicopter fleet. Of those, 770 rotorcraft were operational. From mid-2008 to mid-2009, Mi-8s logged about 87% of flight time of all Russian-made helicopters on the local market.

 

There is ample supply in Russia of earlier versions of the Mi-8, but their low-power TV2-117A engines provide them very limited application in Afghanistan. Ermilov notes that demand on the local pre-owned market is not large, but a rotorcraft assembled in the late 1980s or early 1990s that is in good condition can be purchased for $1.2-2 million. The version’s operational life is 35 years, although the Mil design bureau can add another five years on a case-by-case basis.

 

 

  ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD

 

  ⓒ USAF

 

  ⓒ USAF

 

  ⓒ USAF