Russian Helicopters Holding Company has just delivered three Ka-32A-11BC multipurpose helicopters to Turkey. All of them will be used for firefighting purposes.
In July 2018 contracts were signed with KAAN Air (Turkey) for delivery of three Ka-32A-11BC multipurpose helicopters and currently all three were handed over to the customer. The rotorcrafts were purchased primarily for firefighting purposes.
´Ka-32A-11BC is the helicopter with the best technical equipment for firefighting missions´, noted Andrey Boginskiy, CEO of Russian Helicopters Holding Company. ´This rotorcraft is an admitted leader in its class, and it is capable of solving a wide range of tasks. We are looking forward to further fruitful cooperation with our Turkish partners as far as delivery and after-sales support of helicopters are concerned. ´
´Russia has top-tier competence in civil helicopter industry. Depending on the types of tasks and missions, we are ready to deliver a variety of helicopters to our Turkish partners´, said Viktor Kladov, Director for International Cooperation and Regional Policy at Rostec. ´Right now, Turkey is interested in expanding its fleet of firefighting aircraft, and Rostec intends to continue developing its cooperation with Ankara in this field. We estimate the current Turkish market for this type of helicopters as several dozens of aircraft. ´
The Ka-32A-11BC multipurpose helicopter is designed to perform complex firefighting operations, special search-and-rescue and high-altitude construction operations, to transport cargo inside the fuselage and on the external sling, to log forest, transport patients and evacuate injured persons.
The co-axial scheme and absence of the tail rotor ensure compactness, high power-to-weight ratio and manoeuvrability, as well as exceptional controllability of the helicopter. Ka-32A-11BC has a high load lifting capacity up to 5 tons of cargo on the external sling. The assigned service life of Ka-32A-11BC is extended to 32,000 hours which guarantees lower operating costs.
The firefighting version of Ka-32A-11BC can be equipped with various fire extinguishing systems, including Bambi Bucket and Simplex type, as well as a horizontal firefighting system. The helicopter is capable of extinguishing flames on the highest floors of high-rise buildings and on oil-and-gas industrial facilities. The Ka-32A11BC has been acknowledged by experts as one of the world’s best firefighting helicopters; it is a symbol of the Global Helicopter Firefighting Initiative (GHFI) – a program intended to improve the operating efficiency of specialized firefighting helicopters.
The Ka-32A-11BC helicopter is EASA certified and meets FAR-29 and AP-29 standards. It is being successfully used in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Spain, Canada, Kazakhstan, China, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, South Korea and Japan.
The main field activity of KAAN AIR is delivery and after-sales support of helicopters as well as a wide range of transportation services from air taxi and VIP transport to environmental monitoring and fire extinguishing.
Photos (2) courtesy of JSC “Russian Helicopters” / Rostec State Corporation. “Russian Helicopters” press materials were used.
