MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Irkut Corporation and the Kamov Company have signed an agreement on strategic partnership in the sphere of developing special-purpose aircraft, the Kamov Holding Company press-service told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
According to the press-service, first and foremost, such special-purpose aircraft include the KA-32 Helix helicopter and the BE-200 amphibious aircraft, designed to suppress fires, including forest fires.
"This is the first time a fixed-wing aircraft company has teamed up with a rotary-wing aircraft company, with their major objective being increasing the aviation employment efficiency," a press-service official said.
At the present time aviation participates in every disaster-relief operation, he noted.
According to the press-service, in 2002 the Russian Emergencies Ministry signed a contract with the Irkut Corporation on procuring seven BE-200 amphibious aircraft. In its turn, the KA-32 helicopter, designed by Kamov, lived up to its reputation when suppressing fires in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, etc.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry forecasts that fires will account for 42-44% of the overall number of emergencies in 2005, while traffic accidents and public utilities disasters will account for only 11-13%.
According to the press-service official, Kamov and Irkut's teaming up is an important step towards establishing a common international emergency-management and disaster-relief system.