Its projected roles were to assist in fire support and communications, cargo transportation, SAR and medevac, and aerial surveillance.
At the start of the 1980s the development of the TV-O-100 turbine gave Soviet designers their first lightweight powerplant which was suitable for smaller high-performance helicopters.
This allowed the development of a new class of lightweight combat helicopters to augment the larger and more powerful transport, assault and anti-tank platforms.
Roles envisaged for such a helicopter included attack, close-range infantry support, troop transport with four soldiers, medivac with four stretchers, SAR/CSAR, liaison, light cargo, reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, as well as the potential capacity to eventually act as a scout, spotter, and provide target identification/approval for new dedicated attack helicopters (the projected Mil Mi-28 and Kamov Ka-50).
A civil version was also planned which would have carried ten people or one ton of cargo and had secondary patrol and rescue capabilities.