In Russia, a full cycle of composite production for helicopter manufacturing was presented — from calculations and design to production and quality control. The developments were shown at a specialized industry seminar on April 9.
The discussion involved specialists from the holding company "Russian Helicopters," the Mil and Kamov National Helicopter Center, and industry enterprises.
A key element was the "SARUS+ Composites" software, which provides end-to-end design and production preparation with data transfer to Russian equipment. Laser projection systems and measuring equipment for precise assembly and control were also demonstrated.
The developers presented epoxy prepregs comparable to foreign counterparts. In one example, a metal part was replaced with a composite one — the weight became lower.
However, building helicopters in Russia is still more profitable for sale than for the domestic market. For example, the profitability of Kazan Helicopter Plant products for external markets turned out to be almost three times higher.
Read more materials on the topic:
- The helicopter fleet is planned to be renewed: KVZ will receive an order for at least 70 rotorcraft
- No need for Airbus and Bell: new Mi-34 helicopters will begin to be built in Tatarstan
- Kazan Helicopter Plant has become the only enterprise in the industry in the world with a full production cycle
