The Russian Ministry of Defense is looking to operate a new, high-speed combat helicopter. It has signed a contract with state-owned Russian Helicopters for its development.

"Both the Ministry of Defense and [Russian Helicopters] believe the parameters received during the tests and the experience gained to be enough to move on to the next stage - the development of a high-speed combat helicopter,” said Andrey Boginsky, CEO of Russian Helicopters. “The contract … is a serious step toward the new generation of helicopter construction, with higher speeds and flight and technical characteristics."

The contract covers the determination of technical appearance of the helicopter, Russian Helicopters said. Construction bureaus are already working on this aspect. Russian Helicopters said previous research is being used, including “the results of flight tests of the flying laboratory of a perspective high-speed helicopter with a new main rotor.”

At the end of the two-year contract, the appearance for the new combat helicopter should be determined, and the experimental construction tasks should be formed.