Boost in Performance for Ansat Helicopter

Russian Helicopters, December 17, 2021 - The Kazan Helicopter Plant of the Russian Helicopters holding, art of the Rostec State Corporation, has completed the next stage of certification work to increase the range of the Ansat helicopter.

The achieved indicators increase the commercial attractiveness and competitiveness of the helicopter in the domestic and world markets.

Both Ansat and Ansat-M models have now an additional 140 kilometers range with the installation of an additional tank. With the new device, the standard version of the machine will be able to fly up to 645 kilometers, while the flight range of the upgraded version will be up to 780 kilometers.

The certification received from Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) allows Kazan Helicopter Plant to install a 195-liter extra tank not only on the new machines, but also on the machines in operation following minor modifications. Both passenger and medevac versions of Ansat can be equipped with an extra tank.

“Currently a large-scale modernization of the serial Ansat, which is one of the main medevac helicopters, is underway. At the same time, an updated version, the Ansat-M helicopter, is being developed. The work to increase the flight range is of great importance, as it will allow the rapid medical evacuation from remote areas and expand the capabilities for passenger or cargo transportation. Thanks to the new extra tank the range of regular Ansat will be increased to 645 kilometers and the upgraded Ansat will reach 780 kilometers”, said Nikolay Kolesov, CEO of Russian Helicopters.

Certification tests of the main fuel system of Ansat-M have been conducted to date, confirming the declared flight range of 640 kilometers.

Ansat helicopter certificates

Certification work included a complex of fatigue and equivalent cyclic tests of Ansat helicopter assemblies, both at Kazan dynamic testing laboratory and in the industrial laboratory of KNRTU-KAI, with the preparation of all the necessary documentation.

"This upgrade of the Ansat helicopter assemblies significantly affects the decrease in the cost of its flight hour. Work in this direction has been carried out systematically and in stages for several years, which undoubtedly increases the competitiveness of the Ansat helicopter," said Nikolay Kolesov, General Director of the Russian Helicopters holding .

In accordance with the updated certificate, the assigned resource of the tail boom of the helicopter has been increased from 3000 to 4000 hours, the assigned resource of the main rotor hub assemblies is from 4000 to 5000 hours, the service life of the first overhaul of the VR-23A main gearbox and SV-23 connecting shafts is from 1750 up to 2000 hours, and their assigned resource - from 3500 to 4000 hours.

In total, 10 approvals for major changes in the standard design of the Ansat helicopter were received in 2021. Plans of the Design Bureau of the Kazan Helicopter Plant includes a further gradual increase in all systems and service life of the helicopter and its assemblies, both of its own production and of purchased components. In particular, in 2022, work is planned to increase capabilities of the vibration dampers, skid landing gear, tail boom and a number of other units and components of the helicopter.

Ansat is a light twin-engine multipurpose helicopter, the serial production of which is deployed at the Kazan Helicopter Plant. According to the certificate, the design of the helicopter allows it to be quickly transformed into both cargo and passenger versions with the ability to carry up to 7 people.

In May 2015, received type certificate for the modification of a helicopter with a medical module. Ansat is certified for use in the temperature range from -45 to +50 degrees Celsius, as well as for operation in high mountains.

In August 2018, based on the results of certification work, Rosaviatsia issued KHZ approval to boost specifications of a number of Ansat subsystems. In 2019, the Federal Air Transport Agency certified an increase in the fuselage resource of the Ansat l to 16,000 hp. In February 2020, the Russian aviation authorities certified the installation of an emergency splashdown system.

At the end of December 2020, the upgraded Ansat-M helicopter made its maiden flight. which makes the Ansat helicopter even more attractive to potential customers and increases its competitiveness in comparison with foreign helicopter technology.