Information of TTFLY: The Russian Air Force plans to replac the full metal blades of Mi-28NM military helicopters with new ones made form composite materials.

The helicopters are currently in operation in Syria.

“The upgraded Mi028NM helicopters will be the first to be provided with composite blades,” Viktor Bondarev, the Colonel General, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Forces was quoted as saying by Izvestia.

“The upgraded helicopters will be set for serial production by the end of 2017. We will then replac rotors on all helicopters used by the Army,” he added.

“Operating helicopters in the desert with high dust concentration and formation of sand whirls upon take-offs and landings of helicopters at poorly equipped sites always means higher wear and tear of blades," specialists for Russian Helicopters told Izvestia.

"This is true for Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya – any territory with sand and no ground, as well as the dust concentration up to several hundred meters upwards. The dust creates abrasion. This effect cannot be fully eliminated, but we can seek to mitigate it. One of the ways to do that is start using full composite blades.”

The full composite structures feature more resilience, damage tolerance, and resistance against external impact. The potential operating life is many times higher versus full metal blades.

Until recently, the Ministry of Defense sought to purchase full metal blades only. The military department shared with Izvestia that this was caused by structural features of such devices: the blades include multiple components, while made it possible to replac only the damaged portion, but not the entire rotor following any combat damage.