Iran is in talks with Russia for a potential joint venture to assemble Russian light civilian helicopters locally.
Iran is in talks with Russia for a potential joint venture to assemble Russian light civilian helicopters locally.
Russian Helicopters and the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) of Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding on 28 March in this regard.
The joint venture will consider assembling either the Kamov Ka-226 or the Ansat light helicopters in Iran. Currently, negotiations are ongoing and the MoU implies that a fully-fledged cooperation agreement will be reached soon.
Iran currently operates over 50 Russian manufactured helicopters, mainly the famous Mi-17 series.
The Ka-226 with its unique coaxial rotor system features a modular fuselage structure, which can be configured for different roles. It is powered by two 580 h.p. FADEC-equipped French Turbomeca Arrius 2G1 engines.
The Ka-226T has a range of 500 km and maximum speed of 220 km/h.
The Ansat light helicopter (pictured above) is designed for cargo and passengers transportation, observation, search and rescue and ambulance and evacuation operations powered by two FADEC controlled PW 207K Pratt & Whitney Canada rated at 630 hp each.
India is also in talks with Russia to manufacture the Ka-226 helicopter locally with transfer of technology.
