KAZAN, February 26. /TASS/: The Kazan Helicopter Plant (part of the Russian Helicopters Group) is ready to produce no less than 12 Mi-38 multi-purpose helicopters a year, Group CEO Andrei Boginsky said on Wednesday.
"Today the enterprise is ready to produce no less than 12 helicopters annually. Correspondingly, we have orders from the Defense Ministry - two helicopters, which we delivered last year. The first VIP rotorcraft [has been delivered today]. Today we have six helicopters of this model in the production process. We also have the first orders from foreign customers," Boginsky said after the ceremony of handing over the first civil version of the Mi-38 helicopter to the customer.
The Mi-38 medium multi-purpose helicopter can be used to transport cargoes and passengers. It can be employed as a search-and-rescue rotorcraft and a flying hospital. The helicopter can operate in a broad range of climatic conditions. In its transportation capacity with additional fuel tanks, the Mi-38 can fly to a range of 1,200 km. With a maximum take-off weight of 15.6 tonnes, the helicopter can transport 5 tonnes of payload.
The Kazan Helicopter Plant produces Mi-8/17 helicopters that are operational in over 100 countries and has started to manufacture the Mi-38 medium model in its military configuration. The Kazan Helicopter Plant has been certified since 1997 to develop rotorcraft.
