The management of the Abu Dhabi Strategic Development Fund (investment division of Tawazun - editor's note www1.ru) has decided to withdraw from the agreement with "Russian Helicopters" on the development of the VRT500 helicopter and the VRT300 drone.
The agreement was signed in November 2020 in Singapore. However, due to Western sanctions, the Arab fund had to abandon its implementation. It is known that the VRT500 was conceived as a major international project.
It was expected that the helicopter would receive a Canadian Pratt & Whitney PW207V engine and French avionics from Thales. It was planned to install a French air conditioning system manufactured by Liebherr-Aerospace, and a transmission from the Italian Avio Aero. The assembly itself was planned to be carried out at the former Breda-Nardini factory in Italy.
The prototype of the VRT300 helicopter-type drone was developed by the "VR-Technologies" design bureau and presented in 2017 at the international forum "Arctic: Present and Future". The VRT500 helicopter model was first shown at MAKS-2017. Engineers created it as a light helicopter with a coaxial rotor arrangement with one engine and a take-off weight of 1600 kg.