MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Russian state-run corporation Rostec plans to start mounting domestically manufactured PD-8 engines on the Mi-26 family of helicopters, thus giving the aircraft a 15% boost in engine power output, First Deputy CEO Vladimir Artyakov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"We need 2-3 years. We will fine-tune the PD-8 [engine] so as to start installing it on the Mi-26 [helicopters]. I would like to note that the engine power output in this case will be 15% above that for the [engines] that we installed earlier," the senior executive said.

Rostec is also working on restoring the airworthiness of Mi-26 helicopter engines, Artyakov said. "We believe they still have some service life left," he noted.

In June 2023, Rostec group entity United Engine Corporation announced that it had started working on the PD-8 engine for Mi-26 helicopters.