Mil Mi-40
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (August 2008) |
The Mil Mi-40 was a projected utility version of the Mil Mi-28, first initiated in 1983, announced in 1992 and shown at the Moscow Airshow in 1993. It was primarily intended for the "Aerial Infantry Fighting Vehicle" category as a successor to the Mil Mi-24 and Mi-8 assault helicopters.
It was planned to use two 1,863kW Kilmov TV-117VMA turboshaft engines, four-bladed main rotor, four-bladed Delta H tail rotor (both from the Mi-28), and retractable tricycle-type landing gear. It was expected to weigh 11-12,000kg and estimated to attain a 3300m ceiling, a 314kph maximum speed and a 260kph cruise speed.
Specifications required the functioning in day, night and poor weather as well as carrying eight soldiers (the design achieved seven in practice), eight stretchers or large external loads. An emphasis was placed on survivability with a focus on redundancy, IR suppression and special shock absorbers for the crew to increase the maximum "safe" crash velocity.
The design incorporated a 23mm cannon (most likely GSh-23L) for defense in the forward hemisphere and a 12.7mm machine gun (most likely Yak-B) for defense in the rear. Fuselage fairing containing fuel would replace stub wings with missiles mounted above on special hardpoints. Sources[citation needed] mention a capacity for carrying external stores, but existing drawings and photographs of models show no clear way to do this.[original research?]
Its design borrowed much from the Mil Mi-36 developed over the previous two years, and would itself be replaced after a year by the Mil Mi-42 project. Although the Mi-40 design would be resurrected for a short period in the 1990s, with optimisation studies being completed, it did not reached the prototype stage.
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
Mil Mi-40 (Russian) at www.aviastar.org