The new LMS-901 "Baikal" is necessary for transportation in the northern regions of Russia; a helicopter, even with infrastructure, will not provide such savings. This was stated by Dmitry Dyakonov, chief designer of KB-602.
According to him, a helicopter and an airplane are flying vehicles that perform different tasks. Even a modernized Mi-8 with a good load cannot cover 1000 km.
Every vegetable has its own bed. Each is good in its own field, and when replacing, the question always arises: what will it cost? With a small load, if you fill it with additional tanks, it can fly 700, or even 1200 km, but the question is, how much can it carry in that case?
Dyakonov added that using an airplane, if infrastructure is available, is still much more profitable than rotorcraft.
If there is none, then flying a helicopter is cheaper than investing in and recouping an airplane airfield. And flying an airplane to a ready airfield is incomparably more profitable.
In the summer of 2025, the then head of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant, Leonid Luzgin, stated that the cost of the "Baikal" would start from 220 million rubles. "Pervyy Tekhnicheskiy" discussed in detail how the price of the aircraft changed over time.
It is known that the cost of a "dry" flight hour for the LMS-901 will be from 190 thousand rubles, including leasing.
