NOVOSIBIRSK, November 11. /TASS/. The United Engine Corporation (UEC) has ramped up production of VK-2500 engines for Ka-50 and Mi-8 helicopters several-fold this year, Deputy CEO Yury Shmotin said.

"In 2024, [production of] VK-2500 engines (for the Ka-50 and Mi-8 helicopters and their variations) has increased manifold," the senior executive said.

Meanwhile, the producer is facing greater costs, which have gone up by 20% over the last four years, Shmotin added. "Supplier costs have increased dramatically. Over the last four years, the price of component parts from suppliers in the machinery sector has quadrupled. The delivery cost of raw materials, blanks, disks and shafts has doubled. Producing in-house has become 20% more expensive for us," he noted.

Shmotin sees the next two years as paramount to the company’s trajectory. "We need to significanlly boost serial machinery production. These are primarily commercial engines. Today, we are at 50% of our planned production goal," he added.

The Klimov VK-2500 engine is a Russian turbofan engine. It has several variations.