Russian Helicopters delivers six air medical helicopters

Russian Helicopters subsidiary Kazan Helicopters has supplied six helicopters to the PSB Leasing Group on behalf of the country’s Rostec National Air Ambulance Service (NSSA).

The delivery included three Ansat and three Mi-7MTV-1 aircraft delivered as part of a framework contract for 66 aircraft signed at the MAKS-2021 air show last year. The latest delivery brings the NSSA’s fleet to 22 units, including 11 Ansats and 11 Mi-8MTV-1s, of which 14 were delivered under the contract.

The aircraft are equipped for medical equipment, including incubators for newborn children as well as isolation chambers for patients suffering from infectious diseases such as coronavirus.

The helicopters will be used to support NSSA air rescue operations in six regions: the Ansats will go to Veliky Novgorod, Beslan and Orel, and the Mi-8MTV-1s will go to more rural areas such as Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk and Barnaul. In 2021, the organization performed 5,020 missions in which they rescued over 6,000 patients, including 687 children and 280 infants under one year old.

The new helicopters will be able to provide a range of HEMS coverage across Russia

The Ansat light helicopter is capable of speeds of up to 275km/h, with a maximum flight range of up to 505km, and can carry one patient alongside two accompanying medical staff. The aircraft can operate in a temperature range of between -45°C and 50°C and can operate in both mountainous rural and urban environments.

The Mi-8MTV-1 multirole helicopter offers a maximum speed of 250 km/h, with a flight range of 1,150km.

“The Mi-8 series helicopters are often used in remote and hard-to-reach regions of the country, in turn, the Ansats have proven themselves in urban areas and in situations where it is necessary to evacuate in case of an accident directly from the highway,” said Nikolai Kolesov, CEO of Russian Helicopters.

“Kazan Helicopters is a key supplier of helicopters for the National Air Ambulance Service, by the end of this year we will supply a total of 66 aircraft under existing contracts: 29 Mi-8MTV-1 and 37 Ansat,” he added.

Russian Helicopters previously announced the delivery of four medical helicopters to the State Transport and Leasing Company (GTLK) on 3 December for use by Yeltsovka Airlines, Strezhevskoye Aviation, Konvers Avia and Bashkortostan-based air ambulance service TNC.