| Ansat | |
|---|---|
 A Kazan Ansat | |
| General information | |
| Type | Multipurpose utility helicopter |
| Manufacturer | Kazan Helicopters |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | Russian Aerospace Forces |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1998–present |
| Introduction date | 28 August 2013 |
| First flight | 17 August 1999 |
The Kazan Ansat is a Russian light, multipurpose helicopter manufactured by Kazan Helicopters.
Kazan Helicopters in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia has been one of the main Russian manufacturers of helicopters of the Mikhail Mil bureau design. In the 1990s management realized that there would be a need for light helicopters in Russia, as the fleet of standard Mi-2s was getting older, and the design itself became obsolete. The Mi-2 was the lightest helicopter in large-scale use in the former USSR, despite being larger than most light Western helicopters. At first Kazan Helicopters wanted to develop a helicopter based on the AS 350 Ecureuil in cooperation with Eurocopter, but it failed. As a result, in 1993 Kazan Helicopters organized its own design bureau in order to create a new helicopter (the bureau was officially certified by the Russian authorities in January 1997, designer Valery Dvoeglazov). The helicopter was named Ansat (meaning "light", "simple" or "easy" in the Tatar language). [1]
In 1998 the first prototype for ground static tests was completed. The second prototype (no. 02, then 902) first flew on August 17, 1999, but the first official flight was made on October 6, 1999.[ citation needed ] It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206 engines. Another prototype, with a longer and slimmer fuselage, and powered by two PW207K engines, flew on December 27, 2001 (no. 03, then 904). From 2002 it was undergoing the certification process. The third prototype introduced clam shell doors for the cabin opening upwards and downwards, instead of the sliding ones. It was offered as the Ansat-U military trainer variant with dual controls.
In September 2001, [2] the Ansat-U won a contest for a trainer helicopter for the Russian Air Force. By 2010 four were in service with the Russian Air Force's Syzran Military Pilot Flying Training School. A further 20 are planned, to be powered by Ukrainian Motor Sich MS-500V engines replacing the Pratt & Whitney engines of the first four Ansats. [3] New light multi-purpose civilian helicopter "ANSAT" with hydromechanical control system of JSC "Kazan Helicopter Plant" has received type certification of Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) on 28 August 2013. [4] Type Certificate of IAC AR, allowing (freight) helicopters to begin commercial operation, was obtained in August 2013. In December 2014, IAC AR issued the approval of the main changes (addition to the type certificate), allowing for the transportation of the passengers on the commercial market. The emergence of medical options was the final step in creating a unified helicopter, certified for transport and medical works, transportation of people. Earlier, versions of these helicopters were used by the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB and other state structures of Russia. [5]
A VIP version of the Ansat helicopter was certified on 31 December 2015 and with a cabin in the style of the Aurus luxury cars brand in early February 2020. [6] The helicopter is equipped with hydromechanical control system and its passenger cabin can accommodate up to seven energy-absorbing passenger seats. There is also a ventilation and air conditioning system. According to General Director at Kazan Helicopter Plant Vadim Ligai, work is underway to modernize the helicopter's fuel system and install additional 200 kg fuel tanks in order to increase its flight range. [7]
On 28 October 2016, Russian Helicopters has presented a civilian version of the Ansat helicopter. [8]
In 2017–2018, the helicopter has been certified for operation under extremely cold and high temperatures from minus 45°С to plus 50°С, during a series of ground and flight testing. [9] In January 2019, on the basis of trials conducted at Mount Elbrus in 2018, the Federal Air Transport Agency certified the increase in take-off/landing altitude of the Ansat from previous 1,000 m to 3,500 m and approved the helicopter for high-altitude operations. [10] Ansat helicopter optional Emergency Floatation System certified in March 2020. [11] Since May 2020, a specially-adapted medical version Ansat-SK is used in EMS operations.[ citation needed ] In December 2020, the first flight of the modernized Ansat-M took place. [12] The installations of a winch with a lifting capacity of up to 272 kg and an external sling for carrying oversized cargo and extinguishing fires were certified in April 2021 and the installation of an external fuel tank increasing range by 140 km in December 2021. [13] [14] [15]
The Russian Defence Ministry placed an order for eight Ansat-U military helicopters in 2009–2010, becoming the initial launch customer of the variant. On 1 March 2011, it ordered another 32 Ansat-U helicopters. Under a third contract signed on 5 June 2017, ten more Ansat-U helicopters were ordered. The Russian Aerospace Forces received the last batch of Ansat-U helicopters on 20 December 2017. All Ansat helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces are operated by the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School, a branch of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. [16] [ unreliable source? ]←
On 22 May 2015, during the VIII International Helicopter Industry Exhibition HeliRussia 2015, Russian Helicopters concluded two contracts for supply of five modernized light passenger Ansat helicopters. Three of these helicopters will be delivered to the Tatarstan airline Tulpar Helicopters and two to the Vector Aviation company. [17]
On 27 December 2016, Russian Helicopters and State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) agreed on supply of six Ansat helicopters equipped with medical modules. [18] [ unreliable source? ] GTLK has ordered additional 31 medical helicopters, including 12 Ansat on 6 December 2017. [19] The deliveries of the later were completed in 2018. [20] [ unreliable source? ] These helicopters are operated by the Russian Helicopter Systems company as emergency medical service transports. [21]
During the 2018 Hydroaviasalon exhibition, subsidiaries of Rostec State Corporation — Russian Helicopters, National Service of Medical Aviation and Avia Capital Services LLC — signed a contract to supply 104 Ansat and 46 Mi-8AMT medically equipped helicopters. [22]
Russian Helicopters and Chinese Association for Disaster & Emergency Rescue Medicine (CADERM) inked a contract for supply of 20 Ansat helicopters at the Airshow China 2018 exhibition. [23] [24] The helicopter was certified in China in early 2020. [25]
On 16 May 2019, within the XII International Helicopter Industry Exhibition HeliRussia 2019, Russian Helicopters and Polar Airlines signed a contract for supply of seven Ansat helicopters. [26]
On 20 January 2020, Eritrea ordered two Ansat-U military helicopters with deliveries scheduled for 2020. [27]
The Interior Ministry of the Serbian Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered 3 Ansat helicopters for its Police force in early 2020 with deliveries planned for 2020-22. [28] [29]
The Ansat is of a classic layout with a pilot and 10 passengers (one of them seated next to the pilot). The fuselage has a pair of doors in pilot's cab, and a pair of upwards and downwards opening side doors in transport compartment. After the seats have been removed, it can take 1000 kg of cargo inside. On external hook, it can take 1300 kg of load. It is powered with two PW207K turboshaft engines, which produce 630 shp each. It features a four-blade main rotor and two-blade tail rotor.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ansat-SK flight on 26 August 2023, captain Irina Dolinina, Lenin Square helipad |
Eritrea 
Mexico 
People's Republic of China 
Russia 
Turkmenistan [36] 
Zimbabwe [37] [38] Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004, [2] Russian Helicopters [39]
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark", NATO reporting name Hokum A, is a Soviet/Russian single-seat attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995. The Ka-50 is manufactured by the Progress company in Arsenyev. It is used as a heavily armed scout helicopter and has a rescue ejection system, rare for helicopters.
The Tupolev Tu-204 is a twin-engined medium-range narrow-body jet airliner capable of carrying 210 passengers, designed by Tupolev and produced by Aviastar-SP and Kazan Aircraft Production Association. First introduced in 1989, it was intended to be broadly equivalent to the Boeing 757, with slightly lower range and payload, and had competitive performance and fuel efficiency in its class.
The Kamov Ka-27 is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and as of 2024 is in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and India. Variants include the Ka-29 assault transport, the Ka-28 downgraded export version, and the Ka-32 for civilian use.
The Mil Mi-38 is a transport helicopter designed by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and being developed by Kazan Helicopters. Originally intended as a replacement for the Mil Mi-8 and the Mi-17, it is being marketed in both military and civil versions. It flew for the first time on 22 December 2003 and was certified on 30 December 2015.
The Mil Mi-28 is a Soviet all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It is an attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 gunship for the role. It carries a single gun in an undernose barbette, plus external loads carried on pylons beneath stub wings.
The Mil Mi-17 is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production as of 2024 at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian service. The helicopter is mostly used as a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter, as well as an armed gunship version.
The Mil Mi-14 is a Soviet shore-based nuclear-capable amphibious anti-submarine helicopter derived from the earlier Mi-8.
The Kamov Ka-226 is a small, twin-engine Russian utility helicopter. The Ka-226 features an interchangeable mission pod, rather than a conventional cabin, allowing the use of various accommodation or equipment configurations. The Ka-226 entered service in 2002.
The Kamov Ka-60 Kasatka (‹See Tfd›Russian: "Касатка", is a Russian medium twin-turbine military transport helicopter under development by Kamov. It performed its first flight on 24 December 1998.
The Airbus Helicopters H135 is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters, formerly Eurocopter. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). First flying in February 1994, it entered service in 1996. 1,400 have been delivered up to September 2020, to 300 operators in 60 countries, accumulating over 5 million flight hours. It is mainly used for air medical transport (medevac), corporate transport, law enforcement, offshore wind support, and military flight training. Half of them are in Europe and a quarter in North America. The H135M, certified under the name Eurocopter EC635, is a military variant, so the overall design is known as the Airbus Helicopters H135 and the military version, as the Airbus Helicopters H135M. The EC135/H135 is a development of the earlier Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) Bo 105.
The Russian Air Force is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reborn Russian armed forces began to be created on 7 May 1992 following Boris Yeltsin's creation of the Ministry of Defence. However, the Russian Federation's air force can trace its lineage and traditions back to the Imperial Russian Air Service (1912–1917) and the Soviet Air Forces (1918–1991).
The Mil Mi-26 is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. Its product code is Izdeliye 90. Operated by both military and civilian operators, it is the largest helicopter to have gone into serial production.
OPK Oboronprom was a Russian aerospace holding company. The company was involved in helicopter production, engine production, air-defence systems, complex radio-electronic systems and leasing. Russian Helicopters, Oboronprom’s helicopter manufacturing group is the leading Russian designer and manufacturer of rotary-wing aircraft equipment.
JSC Russian Helicopters is a helicopter design and manufacturing company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. The company designs and manufactures civilian and military helicopters. The company's principal shareholder is Rostec. It is the world's 24th-largest defence contractor measured by 2012 defence revenues, and the second-largest based in Russia.
The VRT 500 is a project of a light helicopter with a coaxial rotor developed by VR-Technologies (VRT), a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters.
The Syzran Higher Military Aviation School is a military academy of the Russian Aerospace Forces, responsible for training airmen of the Russian Armed Forces. It is a branch of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy.
On the morning of 13 May 2023, an air group of four aircraft of the Russian Air Force crashed almost simultaneously in the Bryansk Oblast of Russia: two Mi-8 helicopters, a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35 fighter. According to Baza, nine people were killed: three crew members each in two Mi-8s, two Su-34 pilots and a Su-35 pilot.
