KAZAN, Volga Region, August 28 (AVN) - The Kazan helicopter plant proposed the Gazprom company to equip the promising MI-171AG helicopter with a new new on-board system developed jointly with the St. Petersburg-based Tranzas JSC, the plant's constructor general Alexei Stepanov said on Tuesday.
The new on-board system with integrated piloting and navigation avionics was developed by the Tranzas company at the technical requirements from the plant, Stepanov told the Military News Agency. It was originally intended for the MI-17-V5 Hip helicopter. Documents for this aircraft will be finalised in the near future, then the helicopter will undergo seven-to-eight-month-long tests and after that will be proposed to potential customers.
The MI-171AG helicopter, fitted with TV3-117SB3 engine, modernised blade of the main rotor and modern piloting and navigation system, is capable of roaching the pre-set area and land on a drilling platform located on the sea shelf in the automatic and semi-automatic modes. The advanced range of operation that makes up to 1,500km is also quite important for the Gazprom company, for current helicopters are unable to reach the oil and gas fields located at the Yamal Peninsula, other remote areas of the Extreme North and the Arctic Ocean shelf without stopovers.