Improved firefighting Ka-32

摘要

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS is upgrading the Kamov Ka-32A11M firefighting variant of the Ka-32 heavy twin-engine helicopter with its distinctive co-axial rotors.A prototype of the updated version, which features powerful engines and new avionics, will be shown at the forthcoming MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon, due to take place in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, in July 2021. Russian Helicopters director general Audrey Boginsky said:"We are planning to start supplying the [updated] aircraft as early as next year."Klimov VK-2500PS-02 engines will replace the TV3-117 turboshafts on the earlier Ka-32A11M model, which Russian Helicopters said will increase load capacity by 1,600kg and make the helicopter "perform significantly better in hot and mountainous environments" at altitudes in excess of 6,500ft above sea level.