Russian Helicopters (part of Rostec State Corporation) to take part in the eighth International Exhibition of Defense, Security and Disaster Prevention Technologies SITDEF-2021 to be held in Lima from October 28 to 31 on the grounds of the Peruvian Army’s main headquarters. This year holding presents a civil range of Russian helicopters – scale models of light Ansat and heavy Mi-171A2.

More than 350 Soviet and Russian-made helicopters, both civilian and military being operated today in Latin American countries. During the exhibition, Russian Helicopters will pay special attention to holding meetings with civilian operators and dealers of the Latin American aircraft industry. The delegation will hold negotiations with both Peruvian partners and representatives of other countries and address aspects related to helicopter fleet renewal, service maintenance and modernization of material base.

” Peru is one of our key partners in the South American market. There are more than a hundred Russian-made helicopters in operation in the country. In particular, some Mi-171 helicopters are owned by civil airlines and the country’s armed forces. Exploiters give high marks to our models, noting their flight and technical characteristics, high reliability, ease of maintenance and ability to use them in challenging environments,” said Andrey Boginsky, CEO of Russian Helicopters Holding Company.

With the increasing demand for aviation firefighting equipment, holding specialists during SITDEF-2021 will share with potential customers the experience of using Russian helicopters to fight fires, including in difficult natural terrain. This year, Russian Helicopters’ aircraft extinguished a fire in the Lago Penuelas Nature Reserve in Chile, defeated disaster in Mexico, where they took part in operations in Sierra de Arteaga and Michoacan, and also fought a fire in Cuzco, Peru. In a further way, the Latin American region demonstrates significant potential for air ambulance services development. The holding is ready to offer customers Ansat, which is actively used in Russia within the national program of sanitary aviation development for urgent transportation of patients, including those infected with Covid-19, to expand the fleet of medical helicopters. It is also notable that Russian-made helicopters are already has been actively deployed for medical services in the region, for example, multi-purpose Mi-17s took part in operations to deliver vaccines against Covid-19 in Mexico and Peru.

The light multi-purpose Ansat helicopter, having the largest cockpit in its class, can be assigned to various applications: search and rescue, patrol, medical, training, cargo-passenger, VIP and fire-fighting. The Ansat’s ability to operate in mountainous terrain at altitudes of up to 3,500 meters has been successfully confirmed in high-altitude tests. In some Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, aircraft has already been pre-certified.

The newest Mi-171A2 belongs to the Mi-8/17 family, which has long been known in Peru. Engines with increased power and upgraded complex of pilot navigation and radio communication equipment have expanded the scope of helicopters. This is a fundamentally new capability for the Mi-171A2 when operating in high altitude areas and regions with a hot climate. Patrolling and coastal protection, as well as search and rescue work – the helicopter is designed to solve a wide range of tasks and can perform long non-stop flights. At present, Mi-171A2 has already been certified in Colombia, and the same validation process is underway in Brazil.