Air International 2015-05
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A.Mladenov - Russia's Helicopter Country /Military/
Demand for conversion-to-type training for the Hind-F continues and it will serve with the centre until the end of the decade.
The giant Mi-26, operated by the Torzhok centre since 1982, is a 40-tonne machine with a 20-tonne payload, primarily designed to provide mobility for airborne and the special operation forces in the battle zone.
This is one of the recently delivered Mi-26s after a comprehensive refurbishment at Rosvertol, taken on strength in 2013.
The CTACC’s Berkuty display team performing at MAKS 2013.
The Mi-28N Night Hunter was fielded in service in late 2008, with the first production-standard helicopters taken in strength by the Torzhok centre. Field tests and evaluation followed before it was commissioned into Russian Air Force service in November 2013.
A four-ship Mi-28N formation of the Berkuty display team, led by the Colonel Andrey Popov, the commanding officer of the 344th CTACC, during the MAKS 2013 airshow at Zhukovsky.
With the Mi-8MTV-1 still in mass operation with Russian Army Aviation, the 344th CTACC has a handful of helicopters for use in the conversion-training role.
The co-axial rotor Ka-52 completed its extensive test and evaluation effort in the definitive production configuration in November 2011, with first deliveries to Torzhok reported the following month.
The 344th CTACC has eight Ka-52 Alligators on strength, including four in the full configuration like this Ka-52 ‘White 91' which boast the sophisticated Vitebsk-52 self-protection suite and the Arbalet-52 millimetric radar.
Armour plating in the nose fuselage sides and floor of the Ka-52 provides protection from 23mm calibre projectiles while the windshield can withstand hits from 12.7mm calibre rounds. An extra degree of side-on protection for the pilots is provided by add-on armour screens on the movable canopy sections.
The Ka-52 is the Russian Army Aviation’s main attack helicopter, with the first four examples inducted in late 2010 by the Torzhok centre for aircrew conversion training and tactics development.
The Mi-8MTV-5-1 is a new-generation tactical transport rotorcraft operated by the Torzhok centre in addition to three frontline units, all of them stationed in the Western Military District, each equipped with one squadron flying the type.