OREANDA-NEWS  Russia is a world leader in the niche of heavy helicopters such as the Mi-26, Anton Alikhanov, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, told RIA Novosti in an interview.

"In the niche of heavy helicopters, such as the Mi-26, Russia is a world leader, no one builds helicopters with such a payload. And this year we started work on the import substitution of the engine on this helicopter," the minister said.

In October 2025, Alikhanov reported that the new PD-8V aircraft engine for the Mi-26 transport helicopter was being designed using Russian software.