RuAviation

The Moscow Aviation Centre (MAC) has received a new Ka-32A11VS multi-purpose firefighting helicopter. The vehicle is equipped with modern navigation and avionics systems, which allows it to operate effectively in unfavourable weather conditions. A high degree of manoeuvrability make the helicopter ideal for use in dense urban areas. This was announced by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin (@mos_sobyanin) in his TG channel.

To date, the MAC’s fleet of aircraft includes 12 units: six firefighting, five sanitary and one reconnaissance vehicle. The crews are on round-the-clock duty, ensuring prompt response to calls – the average time of helicopter arrival at the site is 10-15 minutes after receiving a signal about an incident.

Since the beginning of the current year, MAC air ambulance crews have successfully evacuated more than 310 patients, including injured and somatically ill citizens to the capital’s medical centres. Firefighting units participated in extinguishing 11 major fires and demonstrated high efficiency of application of modern firefighting methods.

‘We plan to further replenish the aviation fleet with new equipment and develop aviation rescue technologies in the capital,’ Sergei Sobyanin said in the message.

The most important aspect of the aviation centre’s activity is the constant professional development of employees. For this purpose, in 2022 the centre opened its own training centre, which allowed specialists to undergo training without the need to leave the capital. At the moment, the centre is implementing 14 educational programmes aimed at training universal specialists capable of operating in various extreme situations. In the near future, two new courses will be launched, focused on training pilots to fly both fire and ambulance helicopters.

Over the past year, more than 150 people have taken advanced training courses, including rescuers, pilots, flight mechanics, navigators, engineers and technicians. Continuing to improve the professional training of personnel will allow the Moscow Aviation Centre to continue to respond promptly to emergencies, ensuring the safety of the capital.

The Ka-32A11VS helicopter is a multi-purpose platform with coaxial main rotor arrangement and TV3-117VMA engines. The absence of a steering propeller provides high manoeuvrability, compactness and excellent controllability in cramped conditions of dense urban areas or on limited sites. High power capability allows efficient lifting of cargoes up to 5 tonnes on external suspension, as well as transportation of cargoes inside the fuselage.

Fire-fighting modification of Ka-32A11VS includes more than 40 equipment options, including Bambi-Bucket and Simplex systems, as well as water cannons for effective firefighting in heavy smoke conditions, in high-rise buildings and at oil and gas infrastructure facilities. The possibility of equipping the medical module with intensive care equipment expands its application in search and rescue operations and victim evacuation.