Russia displays civil and military helicopters in Chile

Russian Helicopters showcased a lineup of rotorcraft built for the Latin American market at the largest regional aerospace show FIDAE 2010 (Santiago, Chile). Russian Helicopters is the holding company of the Russian rotorcraft industry. Civil Mi-17, Ka-32A11BC and Ansat helicopters are on display at the Russian Helicopters exposition. The exposition of FSUE Rosoboronexport boasting the military Ka-28M and Ka-31, also manufactured by companies within Russian Helicopters.

Russian Helicopters is the specialised management company of the Russian rotorcraft industry. Consolidation of industry enterprises was completed in 2009, bringing all Russian companies together into one holding company. The holding company retains the legacy of Kamov and Mil design bureaus, and helicopters are now offered under a unified brand in all segments: light, medium, and heavy.

Russian rotorcraft are currently operated in 100 countries worldwide, including Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and other countries in Latin America. Russian Helicopters offers a diversified Russian rotorcraft lineup to partners in the Americas capable of performing any missions, from carrying people and commercial operations to special operations in natural disaster areas. Light helicopters feature the Ka-226T, Ansat, Mi-34C1(C2). The Mi-17, Ka-32A11BC, and Mi-38 are in the medium segment, while the Mi-26T is a heavy helicopter. These rotorcraft may be employed in corporate, passenger, cargo, search and rescue, construction, patrol, and firefighting missions. The Mi-34C1(C2), capable of the most complex aerobatics, is the helicopter of choice for amateur pilots and professional sports pilots.

The combination of ease of operation and maintenance, reliability, low cost, and unique payload and altitude capabilities make Russian rotorcraft one of the most rational options on the global market.

Russian Helicopters is creating a global support network based on certified MROs and joint service enterprises. This will allow the company to support Russian rotorcraft throughout their entire lifecycle, from delivery to scrapping. New MROs are being opened and existing ones are being certified in line with this initiative.

The existing MRO infrastructure coincides with the Russian Helicopters sales geography. For instance, several service and repair centers are undergoing certification in Europe, ultimately leading to the creation of a legitimate system of integrated logistics support in that region. Russian Helicopters MRO centers exist in virtually all countries of the CIS. In 2009-2010 such centers will be built in South-East Asia, Central and South Africa. In Latin America this network will be expanded through acting centres in Mexico and Peru. Similar centres are being built in Venezuela and Brazil.

"Our American partners are already well acquainted with the Mi-8/17 and Ka-32A11BC helicopter types that are among the most reliable and popular rotorcraft in the world. They are effectively operated in 100 countries worldwide. We are openly cooperating with our existing partners and will be happy to establish new partnerships on both American continents," Russian Helicopters COO Andrei Shibitov said.

The light multi-role Turbomeca Arrius 2G2-equipped Ka-226T can be employed in urban high-rise construction, surface surveillance, and police operations, including drug interdiction. According to Russian Helicopters experts, this can be particularly useful on the Latin American market. The coaxial (dual rotor) configuration gives the Ka-226T an advantage in payload and altitude (up to 23000 ft).

The light Ansat is a comfortable Russian-made corporate helicopter with a spacious cabin that can accommodate any additional equipment. For other missions the Ansat can be fitted with an emergency system for landing on water, searchlight, hoist, firefighting or crop spraying equipment. Additional fuel tanks may be installed to increase maximum range.

The medium multi-role Mi-17 (and modifications) is used in passenger and cargo transportation. They are very popular in the world with 12 thousand delivered to date. The helicopter can perform a number of tasks both day and night in any weather and climatic conditions at any spot on the globe, including Iraq and Afghanistan. The Mi-17 is the helicopter of choice for oil development companies with offshore sites. It can land on ships and oil platforms. The Mi-171 can stay up in the air for 8 hours and cover up to 746 miles. Such helicopters were employed in rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

The Ka-32A11BC can be employed in a wide number of missions. It can carry passengers and cargo, perform construction and engineering, firefighting, search and rescue, emergency, and patrol tasks. The helicopter may be fitted with any necessary additional equipment according to mission. October 2009 saw EU certification of the Ka-32A11BC. The Russian-made helicopter was granted type certificate EASA.IM.R.133 allowing any EU company to operate it commercially.

The new cargo and passenger Mi-38 is designed for transportation, forestry, construction, loading/unloading, search and rescue, emergency, medevac, and geologic exploration operations and may also be used as a comfortable corporate shuttle for 20-30 passengers.

The Mi-26T is the world's heaviest-lifting helicopter to go into production, boasting unrivalled performance and economy. These helicopters are employed by the ISAF in Afghanistan in a wide range of missions, including the evacuation of US troops and recovery of damaged ISAF helicopters. US President Barack Obama officially thanked the crew of the Mi-26T belonging to the Russian company Vertikal-T for successfully recovering a CH-47 Chinook from the Kandahar region in October 2009. In China, the Mi-26T took part in rescue operations after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Its unique performance allowed it to transport rescue teams and heavy equipment, and to evacuate people in significant numbers at a time. The Mi-26TS is capable of carrying up to 20 tons internally or externally.

Source: Russian Helicopters, JSC