The Mil Mi-36 was a Soviet light multipurpose helicopter first projected in the early 1980s. Its projected roles were to assist in fire support and communications, cargo transportation, SAR and medevac, and aerial surveillance. It was also planned to use twin TV-O-100 turboshaft engines, a two-bladed main rotor and a four-bladed tail rotor.
Design and development
At the start of the 1980s the development of the TV-O-100 turbine gave Soviet designers their first lightweight powerplant which was suitable for smaller high-performance helicopters. This allowed the development of a new class of lightweight combat helicopters to augment the larger and more powerful transport, assault and anti-tank platforms.
Roles envisaged for such a helicopter included attack, close-range infantry support, troop transport with four soldiers, medivac with four stretchers, SAR/CSAR, liaison, light cargo, reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, as well as the potential capacity to eventually act as a scout, spotter, and provide target identification/approval for new dedicated attack helicopters (the projected
Mil Mi-28
The Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name "Havoc") is a Soviet all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It is an attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, and is better optimized than th ...
and
Kamov Ka-50
The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (, English: kitefin shark), NATO reporting name Hokum A, is a Soviet/Russian single-seat attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. It was designed in the 1980s an ...
). Specifications also included day, night and all-weather capabilities.
Experience with the
Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...
in Afghanistan showed the vulnerability of helicopters to ambushes from infantry,
RPG
RPG may refer to:
Military
* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon
**''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
and
MANPAD
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and also used against low-flying cruise missi ...
fire, as well as the need to counter this threat through vigilance and by immediately returning
suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called cover ...
(even if the attack came from behind). As a result, the new scout helicopter would have been designed from the start to have a 360 degree retaliatory capability in the form of two gun turrets. These were to be of 7.62 mm calibre and it is likely that the gun used would have been the new GShG-7.62 machine gun which had been developed primarily as a defensive gun for helicopters (mounted as part of the organic armament of the
Kamov Ka-29
The Kamov Ka-27 (NATO reporting name 'Helix') is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and as of 2024 is in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and India. Variants include the Ka-2 ...
TB assault transport).
In addition, stub wings could be attached, giving the capability to carry bombs, gunpods, rockets and up to eight anti-tank missiles (this would have likely been
9K114 Shturm
9K114 ''Shturm'' – Weaponsystems.net () – is a
...
missiles in either the new four round launcher being developed for the
Mil Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...
or possibly on special stub wings each with a pair of twin launchers).
A civil version was also planned which would have carried ten people or one ton of cargo and had secondary patrol and rescue capabilities.
The original specification called for a 2500 kg takeoff weight, but attempts to meet the required mixture of weapons, transport and survivability meant that the weight quickly climbed to 3400 kg. Meanwhile, Kamov had designed a more specialised platform in the 2200 kg range in the form of the
Kamov V-60
The Kamov Ka-126 (NATO reporting name Hoodlum) is a Soviet light utility helicopter with co-axial rotors.
Evolved from Ka-26 with engine pods removed from stub wings, fitted with one TVO-100 turboshaft engine positioned on top of fuselage, mod ...
which was favoured but not produced either. Much of the design philosophy was retained and subsequently grew into the
Mil Mi-40
The Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name "Havoc") is a Soviet all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It is an attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, and is better optimized than th ...
which was proposed within a year of work ceasing on the Mi-36.