Motor Sich may supply engines for Russian training copters

Motor Sich (MSICH UK) is planning to get a contract to install its new SBM-1V engines on old Mi-8 helicopters owned by DOSAAF, the Russian Society of Army Assistance (a non-military organization that among other things trains people for parachute jumping). The first pair of engines is expected to be supplied by mid-2013, the company informed. The DOSAAF fleet consists of approximately 50 Mi-2 and up to 20 Mi-8 helicopters.

Roman Dmytrenko: DOSAAF inherited most of its helicopters from the Soviet Union and they are quite outdated. We are skeptical about future supplies of modern and expensive SBM-1V engines for DOSAAF’s Mi-8s, as the institution apparently has limited financial resources. At the same time, we think Motor Sich’s target might be to secure orders from DOSAAF for cheaper overhauls of its Mi-2 copters – Motor Sich is trying to set up this service at newly acquired assets in Belarus and Ukraine.