May 21,
2008: There is a new Russian light
helicopter being offered for sale. The Anset is a 3.3 ton helicopter with two
engines. It requires only one pilot, and can carry either nine passengers, or a
ton of cargo. Range is 635 kilometers
and max speed is 280 kilometers an hour. Mission endurance is usually 2-3
hours. The Russian Air Force has bought a two pilot version for training. A
medevac version is also being developed, for military and civilian markets. The
Anset could also be equipped with weapons, but that is not being pushed by the
manufacturer.
Anset is
the first new product from one of the Soviet defense establishments to survive
the end of the Cold War in 1991, and the collapse of the Soviet defense
industries in the 1990s. The Kazan helicopter factory, in Central Asia (Russian
Tartarstan), long produced various Soviet Mil model helicopters. But in the
1990s, it set up its own design operation, and developed the Anset. This was
intended to replace many of the 3.5 ton Mi-2 helicopters (all produced in
Poland). The Anset will be sold at a third, or more, less than comparable
Western helicopters, a tactic that has long worked for Soviet and Russian aircraft.
