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VR-Technologies VRT300

2020 MODERN AIRCRAFT DRONE TECHNOLOGY FUTURE FLIGHT

VR Technology VRT300 History

While Russia has been relatively slow in adopting large UAVs for both military and civilian use, this gap has narrowed significantly every decade. Enter the "VRT300" from VR Technologies (the parent company name is Russian Helicopters), which is designed as a dual main rotor UAV system for the commercial market.

The aircraft is expected to begin its flight-testing phase by the end of 2018 and perform a wide range of commercial services - for Russia, this means mostly offshore drilling, environmental surveys and icebreaker/data collection missions, but other potential missions are also expected to include Search and Rescue (SAR) for marine and marine/offshore supplies.

The VRT300 uses a coaxial main rotor system with two main rotors stacked one on top of the other. Both rotors have three blades that rotate in opposite directions to effectively counteract the inherent torque effects, while also eliminating the need for complex shaft-driven tail rotor assemblies (coaxial/stacked main rotors are Russian Kamov Very common qualities of helicopters, detailed elsewhere on this website). The main rotor is located above the fuselage in the usual way and is driven by a high fuel engine.

The fuselage is deep and wide enough to accommodate all relevant operational components - fuel, avionics, mission systems - while sensor airbags are mounted in the "chin" position, providing 360-degree traversal, real-time HD video feed and stabilization. The mission module can be suspended between two tubular landing slides below the fuselage, with a payload limited to 150 pounds of equipment.

The fins are arranged in the form of split fins at the end of the short tailstock.

VR Technologies has designed two main variants for the VRT300 series: "Arctic Supervision" and "OpticVision". The former is equipped with a high-resolution side-scan X-band radar unit, and the latter provides greater operating range for hard-to-reach areas.

By mid-2018, the design of the VRT300 has been largely completed and is being prepared for mass production.

The company is also developing the "VRT500" as a larger manned offshoot of the VRT300 and is classified as a Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). The turbine-powered product is scheduled to make its maiden flight by the end of 2019 and will accommodate five people.