We recently covered the fastest aircraft, but there were no helicopters in that article. This got me thinking what are the fastest helicopters in the world?
When people compare conventional airplanes and helicopters, they tend to mention speed. Whilst this is mostly due to engineering, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t fast helicopters!
15. Boeing AH-64 Apache
The Apache is the slowest helicopter on this list, however, it is still one of the fastest helicopters in the world. The Apache became famous in Afghanistan- Taliban soldiers were more frightened of the Apache than a tank!
Part of this was down to all of the technology on board the Apache. Part of it was also down to the speed of the Apache- no matter how quick a Taliban soldier or convoy was, they could never escape an Apache.
When it was released, the Apache was the fastest attack helicopter released at the time. The Apache has the ability to cruise at 265 km/h (165 mph, 143 kn) however, can fly at 293 km/h (182 mph, 158 kn) if necessary.
The Apache needed this speed in order to achieve its objective- the Russians were making helicopters that were faster than anything the Americans and British had. The result was a helicopter that faster than anything the Russians had at the time.
14. Mil Mi-26
The Mi-26 is known for being Russia’s largest helicopter. So it probably comes as a surprise that the Mi-26, even when full of whatever cargo it is carrying, is still one of the fastest helicopters in the world!
Despite being over 40 years old, there are still many orders for the Mi-26 that have yet to be fulfilled. Many of its current operators are some of the world’s largest militaries, but there are also several civilian operators of the Mi-26 too.
Mil designed the Mi-26 to have a heavy payload. In order to do this, the Mi-26 needed to produce a lot more thrust than other helicopters. The result has not only been a heavy payload, but also an incredibly high speed.
The Mi-26 can travel at speeds 255 km/h (158 mph, 138 kn) all whilst having 20,000 kg (44,090 lb) of cargo (or 90 men if used by a military)! This helps to make it one of the fastest helicopters in our skies!
13. NHIndustries NH-90
The NH-90 is perhaps the largest competitor to the UH-60 Black Hawk (more on that later). Just as with the UH-60, the NH-90 is similarly an extremely fast helicopter.
NHIndustries (a collaboration between Europe’s major helicopter manufacturers) designed the NH-90 to fill several different roles, including as a medium-haul cargo and troop transport helicopter, among others.
As such, the NH-90 needed to produce enough thrust to takeoff with potentially several tonnes more added onto the weight of the helicopter. The result was a helicopter that could fly at 300 km/h (190 mph, 160 kn).
What has resulted is a helicopter that has been used by 13 countries in 19 military branches, not to mention being used by NATO! However, the NH-90 does have a shorter range than other helicopters its size.
12. Mil Mi-28
One of Russia’s two answers to the US military’s Apache, the Mi-28 is similarly one of the fastest helicopters in the world. Just as with many Russian helicopters (and aircraft), the Mi-28 resembles the Apache in several ways.
Mil designed the Mi-28 to be superior in terms of speed. The Mi-28 travels 5 km/h (3.1 mph, 2.7 kn) faster than the Apache at 270 km/h (170 mph, 150 kn).
Despite being a helicopter almost 40 years old (when it was designed and first flew), the Mi-28 is still the major helicopter in the fleets of many armies and air forces, including the Russian and Algerian Air Forces and Iraqi Army Aviation.
The Mi-28 has been so successful that there is currently no replacement for the Mi-28. The only real replacement is a speculated re-engineered version of the Mi-28, but there is currently nothing concrete about it.
11. Kamov KA-52
The other one of Russia’s two answers to the US’s Apache, is similarly one of the fastest helicopters in the world. Kamov designed the KA-52 to be a long range scout and attack helicopter.
As such, speed was one of the biggest factors for Kamov. The result was that Kamov used elements from every helicopter it has developed to date, as well as developing the KA-52 in part with IAI.
The most prominent feature that helps to make the KA-52 fast is the coaxial (double) rotor, borrowed from the KA-32, which gives it one of the weirdest aircraft designs.
Kamov designed the KA-52 to cruise at 270 km/h (170 mph, 150 kn), however, if needed, the KA-52 to fly at speeds exceeding 300 km/h, however, this is only for short periods of time, and degrades the service life of the KA-52.
10. AgustaWestland AW139
The AW139 is the fastest non-military helicopter in the world. Following on from Augusta and Westland’s separate successes in the VIP helicopter transport sector, the AW139 was the first helicopter joining both their knowledge together.
What resulted was a helicopter that was large enough to seat a large group of people and have the range customers wanted. This entailed generating large amounts of thrust, which also ended up making the AW139 very quick.
At the beginning of production, AgustaWestland had refined the AW139 to the point where it could cruise at 306 km/h (191 mph, 165 kn) with a maximum speed of 310km/h (200Â mph, 170Â kn).
Due in part to the AW139’s speed, the AW139 has become a favorite of governments, air forces, billionaires, helicopter airlines and news crews all over the world!
9. AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin
In the 1980’s the British realized that their helicopter fleets- across the RAF, Royal Navy and Army were all ageing too fast for their liking. As such, they set up a design competition for new helicopters.
One of these helicopters was the AW101, later designated as the Merlin. The Royal Navy in particular needed an anti-submarine helicopter, where the RAF particularly needed a utility helicopter.
To satisfy both demands, AgustaWestland made the fuselage quite big for a helicopter of its time. They also emphasized the amount of thrust the AW101 would produce, to both be fast enough to catch submarines and strong enough to transport heavy objects.
What resulted was a helicopter that could cruise at 278 km/h (173 mph, 150 kn) but could travel at 309 km/h (192 mph, 167 kn) in rare occasions, all with a fairly long range for its day!
8. Mil Mi-35
One of Russia’s many answers to the UH-60, the Mi-35 is similarly one of the fastest helicopters in the world. The Mi-35 is a variant of the successful Mil Mi-8, as well as being worked on personally by Mikhail Mil before his death.
Mikhail Mil designed the Mi-35 to fill multiple vastly different roles- as an attack helicopter, troop carrier and gunship among other roles the Mi-35 is used for by different countries.
To fulfill all of these roles in different capacities- either to haul extra weight or to outflank other helicopters, Mil had to design the Mi-35 to produce a lot of thrust. The result was that the Mi-35 is incredibly fast!
In fact, the Mi-35 is the fastest helicopter in the Russian military’s fleet. Mil designed the Mi-35 to fly at 310km/h (200 mph, 170 kn) which is much faster than the Mi-26 and the Mi-28.
7. AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat
Long before AgustaWestalnd (now called Leonardo) established NHIndustries with other European helicopter manufacturers, the AW159 was the UH-60’s largest European competitor.
Similarly to the UH-60, the AW159 is designed to fill a series of roles- mainly the roles its predecessor helicopter, the Lynx, fulfilled- search and rescue in particular among other roles adopted by the Lynx.
Just as wit the Lynx, the British military needed a helicopter that would fly hundreds of miles in short amount of time, in order to save someone’s life- whether a downed pilot or a civilian.
The result was a helicopter that is incredibly fast, although is slower than the Lynx it is based on and replaced. The Wildcat is able to fly at 311 km/h (193 mph, 168 kn) in order to achieve its mission.
6. Boeing CH-47 Chinook
The Chinook is arguably one of the best helicopters in any air force’s fleet, it also happens to be one of the fastest helicopters in the world! Due in part to this, the Chinook is one of only two aircraft produced for more than 50 years!
Similarly with the Chinook’s Russian counterpart, the Mil Mi-26 (although the Soviets did make their own Chinook- the Yak 24) the Chinook has been used by both military and civilian operators.
Boeing (originally Vertol) designed the Chinook to carry large payloads- tanks, land rovers and even other aircraft inside of them! As such, the Chinook had to produce more thrust than any other helicopter!
The result was the fact that the Chinook cruises at 300 km/h (180 mph, 160 kn). In rare cases, the Chinook can fly at 310 km/h (200 mph, 170 kn), as with other helicopters, repeated use of this will degrade the Chinook’s service life.
5. Sikorsky UH-60
The Sikorsky UH-60 is perhaps the most famous military helicopter to have ever been produced. With that being said, the UH-60 is also one of the fastest helicopters to have ever been produced.
Sikorsky designed the UH-60 to cruise at 280 km/h (170 mph, 150 kn), however, in certain circumstances, the UH-60 can fly at 294 km/h (183 mph, 159 kn) although this will degrade the UH-60’s service life.
This is mostly down to the fact that the US military- specifically the US Army wanted a helicopter that could fit into multiple roles. These roles include being a cargo aircraft as well as a troop transport.
As such, Sikorsky designed the UH-60 to have more maneuverability as well as being faster than any other helicopter of a comparable role. The UH-60 was also developed from the similarly fast civilian-use Sikorsky S-70.
4. Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx serves as the basis for many helicopters that came after it- such as the previously mentioned AW159 and failed VIP transport helicopter Westland 30.
Originally, Westland had foreseen the Lynx as a helicopter used by both military and civilian operators, as such, they developed the Lynx to have specs that warranted that- including speed.
The military, however, saw a future for the Lynx in search and rescue due to the Lynx’s speed. As such, they developed the Lynx to cruise at 324 km/h (201 mph, 175 kn).
The Westland Lynx had previously held the world record for being the fastest helicopter in the world for 46 years before being surpassed by other helicopters on this list!
3. Eurocopter X3
Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) developed the X3 (officially stylized as the Eurocopter X³) to install a new generation of fast helicopters yet to be announced!
The X3 defied the conventions of normal helicopters. Rather than speeding up the amount of times the rotor rotated per minute, the X3 reduced the number of rotations per minute (by almost 15%).
In addition, the X3 also received two stabilizing propellers either side of the fuselage. Not only do these propellers stabilize the X3, but they also increase speed whilst reducing drag.
The result has been that the X3 can cruise at 407 km/h (253 mph, 220 kn) whilst being able to travel at 472 km/h (293 mph, 255 kn) maximum. However, repeated flights at that speed will degrade the service life of the X3.
2. Sikorsky X2
If we are talking about conventional helicopters, those with a design reminiscent of the first helicopters, then the Sikorsky X2 is the fastest helicopter on earth- quite fitting that the company that made the first helicopter also makes the fastest!
The helicopters in the US military’s arsenal are ageing far faster than they’d have hoped. As such, the US military launched the Future Vertical Lift program to get a family of new helicopters to replace the ageing ones.
Sikorsky’s prototype design for that program was the Sikorsky X2. Sikorsky decided that it would use a coaxial (double) rotor (similar to the Kamov 52) as well as one propeller at the back of the fuselage to reduce drag and increase speed.
The result was a prototype that could fly at 290 mph (460 km/h, 250 kn). To date, the Sikorsky X2 has been developed into two main helicopters: Boeing-Sikorsky SB-1 Defiant and Sikorsky S-97 Raider.
1. Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey
When it comes to the fastest helicopters, the V-22 is by far the fastest- except it isn’t really a helicopter at all. Technically, the V-22 is a tiltrotor- an aircraft that can transform in only 12 seconds from an airplane to a helicopter.
Bell designed the V-22 to hover, land and takeoff as a helicopter. However, it can technically takeoff like a normal aircraft if necessary, as well as flying like a helicopter in flight if necessary.
With that being said, the V-22 cruises (as an aircraft) at a speed of 565 km/h (351 mph, 305 kn). The fastest recorded speed of the V-22 (as a helicopter) is 509 km/h (316 mph, 275 kn).
The V-22 is predominantly used by the US Military- by the USAF, USN and the USMC. The V-22 is also on order for the Japanese Armed Forces. Despite crashing much more than other aircraft, many USMC pilots genuinely want to pilot the V-22.
Which do you believe is truly the fastest helicopter- V-22 or X2? Or maybe something else? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.