Airforces

NEWS

24 // MAY 2018 #362 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Russia & CIS

Ukraine to buy 55 Airbus helicopters

UKRAINE IS to buy 55

rotorcraft from Airbus

Helicopters after the

country’s Minister of Internal

Affairs, Arsen Avakov,

and Jean-Yves Le Drian,

France’s Minister for

Europe and Foreign Affairs,

signed a memorandum of

understanding on March

23 for the aircraft, which

will include examples of the

H145, H125 and H225.

According to Ukraine’s

interior ministry, they will

complement its existing

Mi-8 fleet and serve with

the national police, state

emergencies service, state

border guard services

and national guard.

The main tasks of the

ministry’s helicopter units

are rescue, public order,

criminal investigations,

anti-terrorist and special

missions, state border guard

duties and road safety.

The first four Airbus

products – including medical

and rescue helicopters –

are expected this year.

Although the numbers

of each variant were not

announced, in a statement

on March 28, National

Police Service head

Sergei Knyazev said its air

support unit would receive

ten H145s from 2020.

Kazakhstan

eyes

additional

Su-30SMs

KAZAKHSTAN PLANS

to acquire additional

Su-30SM multi-role

fighters from Russia,

according to a March

6 report from Russian

news agency TASS.

Although numbers

weren’t mentioned,

previous reports suggest

the country plans to

acquire 36 Su-30SMs,

with deliveries expected

to extend until 2020.

A Kazakhstan defence

ministry spokesperson

told TASS: “Within

the framework of the

agreement on military-

technical co-operation

with the Russian

Federation in 2018, the

Ministry of Defence

of the Republic of

Kazakhstan plans to

conclude a contract for

the supply of Su-30SM

multi-role aircraft, and

until 2020 it has planned

to purchase [additional]

Su-30SM aircraft and

Mi-35 helicopters.”

To date, eight

Su-30SMs have been

delivered to the 604th

Air Base at Taldykorgan,

where the two most

recent examples, ‘07

Red’ and ‘08 Red’, arrived

last December 26-27

(see Kazakhstan receives

two more Su-30SMs,

February, p18).

First series production

Il-76MD-M delivered

ILYUSHIN HAS handed
over the first series-
production upgraded
Il-76MD-M transport
aircraft for the Vozdushno-
Kosmicheskiye Sily
Rossiyskoy Federatsii (VKS
R F, Russian Federation
Air and Space Force).
The company announced
on March 13 that the

aircraft, RF-76746, had

been formally delivered

to the Russian defence

ministry. It made its first

flight after modernisation on

February 28, 2016 before

extensive flight testing,

latterly at Zhukovsky. Work

on an eventual total of

30 aircraft will continue in

accordance with the State

Armaments Programme.

The defence ministry

signed a contract with

Ilyushin in August 2013 for

extensive modification of the

VKS’s Il-76MD and Il-78M

tanker aircraft to extend

their service life, replace

obsolescent on-board

equipment and provide

modern navigation and

communications equipment.

The improvements used

elements of the new-

production Il-76MD-90A

and Il-78M-90A variants, for

maximum commonality, while

the D-30KP engines have

also been modified for longer

life. The upgrade will extend

the aircraft’s service life by

15 years. Dave Allport

The fi rst series production Il-76MD-M, RF-76746, which has
now been handed over to the Russian defence ministry. UAC

Latest EMERCOM Be-200ChS delivered

A FOURTH Be-200ChS from

the latest order has been

delivered to the Ministry of

the Russian Federation for

Civil Defence, Emergencies

and Elimination of

Consequences of Natural

Disasters (MChS Rossii

or EMERCOM).

The amphibian, RF-31380

(c/n 306), made a maiden

flight on March 12 from

Beriev’s factory airfield at

Taganrog, fully painted

in EMERCOM colours.

Following acceptance tests,

it was handed over to the

ministry on March 31 and

delivered the following

day to its Khabarovsk

integrated air rescue centre.

The jet is one of six

ordered through a contract

signed on May 25, 2011,

under which, as previously

reported, the third aircraft

made its first flight at

Taganrog on November

27 last year (see New

Be-200ChS for EMERCOM,

January, p19) – before

delivery to the Krasnoyarsk

integrated air rescue centre

at the end of December.

The fifth, c/n 3 0 7, is in

final assembly at Taganrog,

while production of the

sixth and final aircraft,

c/n 308, is also under

way. Dave Allport

New Ka-52

deliveries

FOUR NEW Ka-52 attack

helicopters have entered

service since the start of

the year with the VKS’s

Southern Military District/4th

Air Force and Air Defence

Army in the Kuban region

of Krasnodar Territory.

Russia’s defence ministry

announced delivery of

the most recent pair on

March 13. Disassembled

and airfreighted in on

military transports, they

were reassembled and

test flown before entering

service – and followed

delivery of another two,

announced on January 23.

The unit began training on

the Ka-52 at the beginning

of December, unconfirmed

reports suggesting they went

to the 55th Independent

Helicopter Regiment at

Korenovsk. Dave Allport

EMERCOM Be-200ChS RF-31380 departs from Taganrog for the Khabarovsk integrated air rescue centre on April 1. Beriev