MOSCOW, February 15 (AVN) - Federal budget allocations for repairs and modernisation of the Emergencies Ministry aircraft exceed those of 2000 by about 50 percent, Lieutenant-General Rafail Zakirov, the ministry aviation chief, told the Military News Agency on Thursday.
The ministry's aviation and helicopter park is quite new for 30-40 percent of its aircraft have been in use for no longer than five years, Zakirov said. Among the ministry's priorities in the aircraft field are purchase of BE-200 planes and KA-226 Hoodlum helicopters, modernisation of aircraft avionics, installation of monitoring means and night-vision glasses on helicopters, practising of fire-fighting technologies that envisage utilisation of aircraft.
In spite of the serious increase of allocations the funds are still insufficient to equip IL-76 Candid planes with new height indicators and air clash prevention devices which are needed to make international flights.