The Mil-26 helicopter is the biggest, largest and heaviest helicopter in the world. It can carry over 25 tons off payload either internally or externally. This helicopter can carry 82 fully equipped assault troops(upto 150 under cramped conditions) . It can also be used as flying ambulance and in this role it can carry 60 lying casualties. It is capable of launching at altitude and has been pasted till DBO i.e. 16500 ft. As a Rotary wing craft its payload is close to that of a C130J Hercules
It is operated by No.126 Helicopter Flight. This is relatively a very young unit and has not participated in any operations since its inception. In our country, this helicopter has carried out extensive flood relief operations Ex-Tezpur in Jan 89. It also did a commendable job by laying out the roads in Anini sector in the east. Anini sector was earlier totally air maintained. Being a helicopter flight, it can form time to time be called upon to carry out much casualty evacuation, aid to civil power etc. Only four Mi-26s are serving with the Flight. Z2896, Z2897, Z3075 and Z3076.
The Mi-26 was procured to meet the Heavy Lift requirements of the IAF. A requirement of six helicopters was projected and the first two Helicopters were procured at a cost of Rs 18 Cr each in May 1986. No. 126 Helicopter Flight was raised the same month to operate the type. The Flight has a Unit Establishment of 18 Officers, 142 airmen and 28 NCs(E) and four Helicopters. The other two helicopters were procured and inducted in February 1989 at a cost of approx Rs 22.71 Cr each. Due to low utilisation, the plan to procure two more helicopters was dropped. For the total fleet of four helicopters, twelve engines were procured.
Serviceability of the Helicopter suffered in the 90s, at one point of time in 1995-96, as many as three of the four helicopters remaining on ground. Serviceability gradually fell in the mid 90s from a high of 61% down to 40%. The helicopters also remained underutilised. Against a projected utilisation rate of 50 hours per month per helicopter, the average utilisation hovered around 11 to 22 hours per month.
The first two Helicopters procured in 1986 were due for an overhaul in 1990. The two helicopters were ferried to Russia for overhaul in June 1991 and were returned in August 1993.
The fourth Helicopter came up for overhaul in October 1996 and was given an extension of an year after maintenance by the Base Repair Depot. However the helicopter suffered some damage after one of the undercarriage struts failed in August 1997. The damaged helicopter was subsequently overhauled by the manufacturer in January 2003 at a cost of Rs 16.8 Crores.
In July 2005, a Helicopter of the unit landing at Rampur in Himachal Pradesh was damaged after the rotor got entangled in high tension electrical cables. The aircraft was being used in helilifting heavy road building equipment in the area.
The Mi-26 was designed as a heavy-lift helicopter intended for military and civil use. It was designed to replace the earlier Mi-6 and Mi-12 heavy lift helicopters, with a design that had twice the cabin space and payload of the Mi-6, then the world's largest and fastest production helicopter. The primary purpose was to move military equipment such as 28,000 pound amphibious armored personnel carriers. The helicopter was designed by Marat Tishchenko, protégé of Mikhail Mil, founder of the design bureau OKB Mil. The first Mi-26 flew on 14 December 1977, and entered service in the Soviet military in 1983.
The Mi-26 was the first helicopter to operate with an eight-blade rotor. It is capable of single-engine flight in the event of loss of power by one engine (depending on aircraft mission weight) because of an engine load sharing system. While it is only slightly heavier than the Mil Mi-6, it can lift up to 20 tons (40,000 lb) - 8 tons more than Mi-6. The unofficial nickname of the Mi-26 in the Russian military is "Korova" ("Cow").
The Mi-26 is the second largest and heaviest helicopter ever constructed, following the experimental Mi-12. The Mi-26s have been utilised in the sky-crane role over the years.
Development
At the time of its inception, the Cold War-era Mi-26 (codenamed "Halo" by NATO) was - and still remains - the most powerful operational helicopter in the world. Intended to replace the aging Mil Mi-6 series, the Mi-26 accomplished this feat through the use of an all-new eight-bladed main rotor attached to two large Lotarev powerplants. The system has proven a capable performer in both military and civilian roles and has been a part of NATO's humanitarian relief force when donated by contributing nations.
The Mi-26 is powered by twin Lotarev D-136 series turboshafts generating 11,240 shaft horsepower each and are mounted high atop the design above and abaft of the main cockpit. Speeds of up to 180 miles per hour are possible and - considering the aircrafts overall size and weight - is a feat all in itself. The engines power a massive eight-blade main rotor - which features advanced design and construction - and a five-blade tail rotor on the starboard side. The Mi-26 features a cockpit cabin set forwards of the design with a spacious interior cabin suitable for passenger or cargo carrying. Entry is accomplished through retractable side doors and a cargo bay door at rear that splits open from the base of the tail section. The undercarriage is static. A typical operating crew consists of six personnel and include a pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, systems operator, navigator and loadmaster.
In addition to the base personnel, the passenger transport version of the Mi-26 can carry a maximum combat troop load of 150 soldiers though 90 is the accepted load. The Mi-26 more than surpasses its previous Mil transport helicopter designs in terms of cargo transportation. From an empty weight of 28,000 kilograms, the Mi-26 can carry loads that increase her maximum take-off weight to over 56,000 kilograms. Her power is such that she can be used to carry heavy construction equipment to areas traditional rugged Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft cannot.
The Mi-26 has evolved from its V-29 prototype to appear in a variety of dedicated and specialized forms. These include various upgraded models, a medical evacuation model, an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform, passenger and cargo types and an airborne heavy-lift crane version. There has also been a dedicated firefighting platform developed as well. Beyond the militarized versions of the Mi-26, Russia, China, South Korea, Laos, Peru, India and Greece also operate civilian variants. In any case, the Mi-26 system has found a home in a variety of defined roles after over twenty years of service.
Operations
- Early 1999, a crashed MiG-21 was airlifted by the Unit to Chandigarh.
- 21 Nov 2001, the Mi-8 which crashed in the Rann of Kutch was helilifted by the Mi-26s to Bhuj.
- 2002, a MiG-21 Bison which crashed in the fields near Ambala was airlifted by the Unit to Ambala Air Force Station.
- 22 Feb 2006 - An Mi-26 flown by the CO, Wg Cdr Sushil Ghera, airlifted an Mi-17 that forcelanded in a river bed a few days earlier to Chandigarh Air Force Station.
MH-47E Chinook recovery
In spring 2002 a civilian Mi-26 was leased to recover two U.S. Army MH-47E Chinook helicopters from a mountain in Afghanistan. The Chinooks were being operated by 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and had been employed in Operation Anaconda, an effort in early March to drive al Qaeda and Taliban fighters out of the Shahi-Kot Valley and surrounding mountains. The Chinooks ended up stranded on the slopes above Sirkhankel at an altitude of 8,500 feet (2,600 m) and 10,300 feet (3,100 m). The Chinook stranded at 10,300 feet was deemed too badly damaged to recover, but the other one at 8,500 feet was repairable. With all fuel, rotors and non-essential equipment removed the Chinook was estimated to weigh 26,500 pounds (12,000 kg), too much for the Army's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook, which could only lift 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) at 8,500 feet (2,600 m). An Mi-26 was located through Skylink Aviation in Toronto, which had connections with a Russian company called Sportsflite that operated three civilian versions of the Mi-26 called Heavycopters. One of the aircraft was in Tajikistan doing construction and firefighting work. The aircraft was leased for the recovery of the Chinook for $300,000. The Chinook was snatched with a hook and flown to Kabul, then later to Bagram Air Force Base in Parvan, Afghanistan for shipment to Fort Campbell in Kentucky for repairs.Six months later a second Army CH-47 that had made a hard landing 100 miles north of Bagram at an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) was recovered by another Heavycopter operated by Sportsflite at a cost of $350,000.
Variants
V-29
Prototype.
Mi-26
(NATO - 'Halo-A') Military cargo/freight transport version.
Mi-26A
Upgraded version with an upgraded flight/navigation system.
Mi-26M
Upgraded version of the Mi-26, designed for better performance.
Mi-26MS
Aeromedical evacuation version.
Mi-26NEF-M
Anti-submarine warfare version.
Mi-26P
Passenger transport version, with accommodation for 63 passengers.
Mi-26PP
Radio relay version.
Mi-26PK
Flying crane helicopter.
Mi-26S
Disaster relief version.
Mi-26T
Civil cargo/freight transport version.
Mi-26TC
Cargo transport version.
Mi-26TM
Flying crane helicopter.
Mi-26TP
Fire-fighting version.
Mi-26TS
Export version of the Mi-26T.
Mi-26TZ
Fuel tanker version.
Mi-27
Proposed airborne command post variant, only two prototypes built.
Operators
Belarus
* Belarusian Air Force operates ten aircraft, five more are stored.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo received one aircraft.
India
* Indian Air Force operates four aircraft.
Laos
* Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force operates one aircraft.
Mexico
* Mexican Air Force Received 2 aircraft. One was lost in an accident, and the other has been retired.
Nepal
* Nepalese Army Air Service received two aircraft
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
* North Korean Air Force operates four aircraft.
Peru
* Peruvian Air Force operates one aircraft, two more in storage.
* Peruvian Army
Russia
* Russian Air Force operates 25 aircraft.
* Russian Army
Soviet Union
* Soviet Air Force passed their aircraft to successor states.
* Soviet Army Aviation
Ukraine
* Ukrainian Air Force operates ten aircraft, eight more are stored.
* Ukrainian Ground Forces
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
* Venezuelan Air Force operates three aircraft.
Civil operators
Canada
* Airborne Energy Solutions operates one Mi-26 contracted from UTair Aviation
People's Republic of China
* China Flying Dragon Aviation operates two Mi-26T.
Greece
* Mi-26T "firebuster" 16 September 2000
India
Italy
* Corpo Forestale dello Stato operates several Mi-26T aircraft in aerial firefighting role.
Laos
Peru
Russia
* Aeroflot
* Avialift Vladivostok
* UTair Aviation
Soviet Union
* Aeroflot
Specifications
- Origin: Russia
- Type: Heavy transport helicopter.
- Accommodation: Four crew. Two pilots seat side-by-side along with one one engineer in the cockpit. 1 navigator, 1 flight engineer, 1 loadmaster, 1 radio/electronic systems operator. Upto 85 fully equipped troops can be embarked in the cabin. (upto 150 for shorter trips under cramped conditions)
- Design Features: A conventional semi-monocoque structure of pod and boom type. Vital areas protected by with titanium armor plating. Eight-blade titanium main rotor. The helicopter has a retractable tricycle type landing gear with carbon disc brakes. Differential braking for steering. Fully pressurized cabin.
- Number Procured: 4, Two (Z-2897, Z-2898) in May 86, Two (Z-3075, Z-3076) in Feb 89
- Units Equipped: 126 Helicopter Flight "Feather Weights"
- Rotor Span: 32m, length - 40m, height - 8.15m and disc area - 804 m2
- Weights: Empty - 25,000 kg (55,000 lbs.)
- Normal - 49,000 kg (107,800 lbs.)
- Maximum - 56,000 kg (123,200 lbs.)
- Avionics: INS, flight computer, Map display, weather radar, TFR, and full blind/adverse weather instrumentation. Four axis auto stabilization.
- Engine: Two Loratev D-136 free turbine turbo-shafts rated at 11, 600 shp. Auto synchronization and boosters for emergencies.
- Speed: Maximum - 306 km/h (184 mph; 160 knots)
- Max. cruising speed 240 km/h (144 mph, 125 knots)
- Service Ceiling: 8000 meters (26,240 ft.)
- Range: Maximum - 338 nautical miles (650km; 390 miles).
- Operational - 167 nautical miles (320 km; 192 miles).
- Service Life: 1200 Flight Hours or Eight Calendar Years
