Helicopters are ideal for lots of useful tasks, but speed over the ground has never been their strong suit, with a world speed record of only about 220 knots. That could change if a new Russian design in development lives up to its promise — an official at a technical conference last month revealed plans for a twin-engine, two-rotor design that could go as fast as 378 knots. Images from his talk escaped into Russian social media, and the project was reported on last month by defence-blog.com.
“The Kamov Design Bureau appears to have leaked the details of a future two-seat high-speed helicopter it is about to develop for Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” according to the blog. The engines would be mounted in the rear, and supplemental lift would be provided by a short delta fixed wing in the rear and forward canards. Besides improving speed and range, the new technologies should provide better fuel efficiency, according to the talk.
