Russian Helicopters to supply first fire-fighting Ka-32A11BC to Belarus

Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of Rostec State Corporation, has signed a contract with the Minsk department of the Belarus Emergencies Ministry to supply a Ka-32A11BC helicopter fitted with a horizontal fire-fighting system. The helicopter is planned to be used to combat blazes in high-rise buildings in Minsk.
The specialist Ka-32A11BC fitted with water cannon will be the first of its kind to be delivered to Belarus. Delivery under the contract is expected in 2014.
Minsk is building high-rise towers as part of its city development programme. The Parus apartment block and Royal Plaza administrative complex rise more than 130m, while the Gazprom tower and Minsk Tower complex reach more than 150m. Extinguishing fires in high-rise buildings is impossible without specialised equipment, and the most effective way to tackle blazes in skyscrapers is by using fire-fighting helicopters.
Experts say that the Ka-32A11BC is one of the best rescue and fire-fighting helicopters around. The EASA certified the Ka-32A11BC in 2009, and the helicopter meets FAR29 and AP-29 standards.
The Ka-32A11BC is a medium multirole coaxial helicopter that can be deployed to fly search-and-rescue missions and assist in construction work, as well as complex tasks such as fire-fighting, cargo-carrying inside the fuselage or on an external sling, logging, evacuation of sick and wounded persons, as well as routine patrolling and special-forces operations.
The helicopter is ideally suited to saving human life in fire-fighting situations in high-rise buildings. The fire-fighting Ka-32A11BC comes with more than 40 options for specialist equipment. The helicopter has for many years been successfully deployed to combat fires around the world, including in Russia, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, China, Austria, South Korea and Indonesia.
The Ka-32A11BC’s coaxial rotors mean it is able to hover in turbulent air conditions at close range to a conflagration and effectively tackle fires on the top floors of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers.
In early 2013 the Ka-32A11BC was chosen as the symbol of the Global Helicopter Firefighting Initiative (GHFI). In summer of this year the helicopter was involved in fire-fighting efforts on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The Ka-32A11BC was developed by the Kamov Design Bureau and is in serial production at the Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, both of which are Russian Helicopters companies.

Source / Author: Russian Helicopters