Ukrainian Helicopter Attack - Motor Sich was able to produce rotor blades for Mi-24 attack helicopters before Russia destroyed the Ukrainian company's factory. (Photo: Alan Norris)

Thousands of engineers and skilled workers in Ukraine have little or no work after a dozen major airlines were destroyed or damaged by Russian bombing.

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Another attack occurred on the night of May 25, when the Russian Air Force fired four long-range cruise missiles at the Motor Sich aircraft engine plant in Zaporozhye. Motor Sich is more than 100 years old and has extensive experience in the production of turbochargers, turboprops and turboshaft engines. The company has customers in around 100 countries, to which it supplies up to 300 engines a year in better times.

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Russia's Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for the strike, which it said was carried out to ensure that Motor Sich no longer had the ability to assemble unmanned combat vehicles (UCAVs) and their engines.

A few years ago, Turkey reached a framework agreement with Ukraine on a long-term partnership in combat aviation. The agreement calls for the Ukrainian armed forces to purchase Bayraktar BTB2 MALE UCAVs (both ready-to-use and kits) and Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar to purchase Ukrainian-made engines for Akıncı and other types of drones.

Akıncı made its international exhibition debut at Azerbaijan's Teknofest at the end of May, when an experimental prototype flew 1,000 nm continuously from Turkey. Two Ivchenko-Progress AI450 motors power the 3,000-pound drone. The turboshaft version of the engine has proven itself on ten modernized Mi-2 helicopters.

Motor Sich attempted to produce rotorcraft and UAVs under foreign licenses as well as its own designs, but efforts were fruitless. A more successful program is the modifications of Mil Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters in operation. Since the designers retained the original gearbox (although some were "upgraded"), the more powerful engine installation resulted in better flight performance in hot conditions and at high altitudes.

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Meanwhile, Motor Sich acquired the ability to manufacture rotor blades for Mi-24 attack helicopters, allowing the Ukrainian armed forces to restore a dozen helicopters to airworthy condition on the eve of the Russian invasion and use them with some success against enemy targets. . This apparently contributed to the Kremlin's decision to drop a bomb on the factory in Zaporozhye.

Motor-Sich TV3-117 engines power the refurbished Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters. Although TV3 was developed by the main designer Izotov in Klimov in St. Petersburg, part of its evolutionary line comes from the Ivchenko-Progress design house in Zaporozhye, where Motor Sich also operates.

Russia remained the largest buyer of Ukrainian-made Antonov jet engines and aircraft until 2014, when the government in Kyiv banned all military and essentially high-tech exports to its eastern neighbor. The move prompted the Kremlin to ask local companies to provide support for the Antonov An-124 military cargo ship and large cargo planes and their Ivchenko-Progress D18T turboprops. Klimov also established a second TV3 production line in St. Petersburg (product name VK2500), while Moscow-based Salyut dominates production of the Ivchenko-Progress AI222 turbocharger for the Yakovlev Yak-130 armed jet trainer.

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Installation of the TV3 and AI222 series is currently taking place in parallel in Russia and Ukraine. Motor Sich sells its products in many countries operating Antonov, Mil and Kamov models.

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Motor Sich received rave reviews from the U.S. for export of heated AI222-25F turbochargers to China. The engine powers the Hongdu L-15 supersonic jet, a trainer for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. A developed version of the engine could power light transport aircraft intended for the PLA Navy. The previous generation of the Chinese K8 Karakorum trainer featured a WS-11 turbofan, which is a licensed copy of the Ukrainian AI25TLK.

In response to US criticism, the government in Kyiv has taken several steps to slow the progress of China-Ukraine defense cooperation. At the same time, it offered Western partners the opportunity to purchase Ukrainian aviation products, but they refused.

With sales to Russia banned and no orders from the West, Motor Sich began to seek closer cooperation with China. In 2017, Beijing-based Skyrizon Aviation acquired a majority stake in Motor Sich, promising to invest $250 million in existing facilities and help set up a new factory in Chongqing.

It will produce several Ivchenko-Progress designs, including the AI222 and D436. The latter powers the Antonov An-148/158 regional jets and potentially replaces the General Electric CF34-10A with the Comac ARJ21 to reduce China's reliance on US technology and supplies.

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Concerned about the possible outcome, the White House placed Skyrizon on the Military End User (MEU) list and called on the Ukrainian government to take action. As a result, Kyiv prevented the Motor Sich from falling into Chinese hands. In retaliation, Skyrizon demanded $3.5 billion in compensation for the broken investment deal, later increasing that amount to $4.3 billion.

In 2020-2021, the Ukrainian government nationalized the aircraft engine factory "to return Motor Sich to the people of Ukraine". Soon after, it offered a 50 percent stake to Turkey. Like many other attempts to raise funds for the ailing airline industry, this effort failed. Lack of investment and orders have made it difficult to produce Antonov aircraft in significant numbers, despite the fact that the An-132 and An-178 prototypes have successfully passed flight tests and the An-140/148/158 have seen some revenue service with Russia, the airline Ukraine and Cuba. Now, after Russia's bombing of Motor Sich, as well as the Antonov facilities in Kyiv and nearby Gostomel (Russian strike forces destroyed a flight test base there), the future prospects for the Ukrainian aviation industry look darker than ever. 8 helicopters fly over the eastern Donetsk region on February 19, five days before the start of Russia's invasion [File: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

Ukraine has rejected Moscow's claims that Ukrainian forces have carried out attacks along the border between the countries, including an airstrike that Russia says injured seven people.

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Russian officials said Ukrainian helicopters carried out several strikes in the country's southwestern Bryansk region on Thursday, the latest in a series of alleged cross-border attacks on Russian territory.

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Russia's Investigative Committee said the incident involved two helicopter gunships "equipped with heavy attack weapons" that "illegally" entered Russian airspace.

"They moved at low altitude and carried out at least six raids on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo," the committee said in a statement.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council rejected the claims, accusing Russia of carrying out "terrorist attacks" on its own territory to create "anti-Ukrainian hysteria" in the country.

"There have been several terrorist attacks on Russia's borders, which the Russian leadership has blamed on Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence groups," he said in a statement on social media.

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Later Thursday, the governor of Russia's southwestern Belgorod region said Ukrainian forces had attacked a village there.

"The village of Spodaryushino was targeted by fire from Ukraine," Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Gladkov added that no one was injured in the reported incident. He said the village and others nearby had been evacuated to "ensure safety".

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Ukraine has previously declined to comment on several reported cross-border incidents in recent weeks, including an attack on a fuel depot in Belgorod earlier this month that Moscow says was carried out by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine Conflict Day 50: Moscow Accuses Kyiv Of Helicopter Attack

Russia's Defense Ministry warned on Wednesday that continued "sabotage and attacks" by Ukrainian forces could provoke retaliation.

"If similar incidents continue, then the consequences of the armed forces of the Russian Federation will be attacks on decision-making centers, including Kiev, which the Russian army has so far avoided," the ministry said.

On Monday, authorities in Belgorod, Bryansk and two other Russian regions bordering Ukraine - Voronezh and Kursk - announced they would increase security measures due to what they warned were "possible provocations" from Ukraine. MOSCOW, Feb 14 () -- Russia's navy held an anti-submarine drill in the Black Sea on Monday as fighter jets patrolled its border with ally Belarus in the latest show of escalating military activity near Ukraine.

The United States said on Sunday that Russia could attack Ukraine at any time and create a surprise pretext to attack, as it reaffirmed a commitment to defend "every centimeter" of NATO territory. Russia accused the West of hysteria. read again

Turkish Aerospace, Motor Sich Ink Deal For Heavy Class Helicopter Engines

Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine but has repeatedly denied any plans to invade. It conducts major joint military exercises in Belarus, Ukraine's northern neighbor, and naval exercises in the Black Sea, near the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Kiev in 2014. read more

Another exercise with more than 30 transport and attack helicopters engaged in tactical exercises is underway in southern Russia, as the air force simulated repelling an enemy airstrike in the northern Leningrad region using the S-400 surface-to-air missile system, the military said.

Russia will also send a detachment of ships armed with cruise and hypersonic missiles from its Caspian fleet to the Black and Mediterranean seas, the Izvestia daily quoted a military source as saying.

Ukrainian Helicopter Attack

Meanwhile, crews of Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets conducted a joint patrol flight along the Russia-Belarus border on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Slovakia To Supply S 300 Air Defense System To Ukraine > U.s. Department Of Defense > Defense Department News

A helicopter fires during a military exercise of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces at the Gozhsky training ground in the Grodno region of Belarus.

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