Russian Helicopters, parent company of Russia’s two helicopter design bureaus and five helicopter-manufacturing plants, is moving forward with a new-generation helicopter that is intended to replace the hugely successful Mil Mi-8/17 series. The new project, dubbed Rachel (Russian advanced commercial helicopter), clearly has many military applications.
Rachel is a product of the wider PSV (Perspectivny Skorostnoy Vertolyot, advanced high-speed helicopter) program, which was implemented to provide a new generation of helicopters with improved performance, in terms of both speed/load and economy/efficiency. PSV is expected to produce three new helicopters in varying weight classes. Rachel corresponds to the medium class. Rachel is envisioned as a 10- to 12-tonne machine, with three- to four-tonne payload and the ability to carry 21 to 24 passengers. Offshore work is an obvious application, but military maritime, medevac and SAR versions are also planned.
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