Avialesokhrana, Russia's federal aerial forest protection service, has taken delivery of the first two Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters from Russian Helicopters. They were manufactured at the Kazan Helicopter Plant, where a delivery ceremony took place attended by Nikolai Krivosheev, the head of Avialesokhrana, Russian Helicopters deputy general director Vladislav Savelyev and Kazan Helicopter Plant MD Vladimir Ginsburg. Alexander Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, also joined via video conference.

Each of the helicopters is capable of transporting up to 22 paratrooper-firefighters and is equipped with a wide range of equipment: an external sling with a carrying capacity of up to four tons; a spillway device for delivering and dumping a fire-extinguishing mixture; apparatus for transporting equipment; launching devices; and an onboard winch to land mobile groups.

“These multipurpose helicopters have been eagerly awaited by the specialists at Avialesokhrana," says Krivosheev. "They will be based in the Siberian Federal District, so we will be able to promptly deliver the parachute fire service to the site of forest fires, primarily in the specially protected natural areas in the Baikal Natural Territory."

“For all of us, the creation of the Sever forest fire centre [in the city of Krasnoyarsk], where the helicopters will be based, is an event of paramount importance. It is from Sever that our paratroopers will be sent to extinguish forest fires in hard to reach and remote areas," adds Kozlov. "Sever helicopters will fly above Irkutsk Oblast, Yakutia, Transbaikalia, Buryatia, Krasnoyarsk territory and over the Baikal Natural Territory. The first two helicopters are ready to go to the place of deployment, and Kazan Helicopter Plant will build four more helicopters and hand them over to us at the end of the year. I hope that everything will be on time, because for the fight with fire, every helicopter counts."

The contract, concluded last year, provides for the delivery of six Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters by the end of 2022, to equip the inter-regional northern forest fire centre created in the Krasnoyarsk territory. The government has allocated five billion rubles for staffing the centre and for aviation and ground equipment.

“Today we are transferring two machines as the first in the modern history of a comprehensive supply of helicopters for Avialesokhrana. These machines will significantly expand the capabilities of the federal institution to extinguish fires and respond to emergencies," says Russian Helicopters general director Nikolai Kolesov. "Together with the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, we continue to discuss plans for the further expansion of the helicopter fleet used for aviation protection and protection of forests in our country."