Russia's Ka-226T Helicopters to Get Crash-Resistant Fuel Systems

The new system will lower Russian helicopter manufacturers’ dependence on foreign supplies, increase competitiveness in the field of domestic aircraft, and serve as a platform to establish core industrial competencies in the field of creating crash-resistant fuel system.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia’s Technodinamika Holding aerospace firm won a tender to design a crash-resistant fuel system for the Ka-226T helicopter, a company spokesman told RIA Novosti on Friday.

"Technodinamika won the open research and development competition to design and test by aviation authorities the crash-resistant fuel system [CRFS] for the Ka-226T. The holding has to research materials, prepare and test the elements of the system’s design and draft a CRFS qualification project before the end of 2016," the company’s spokesman said at the HeliRussia 2016 expo.

He noted that the new system would lower Russian helicopter manufacturers’ dependence on foreign supplies, increase competitiveness in the field of domestic aircraft, and serve as a platform to establish core industrial competencies in the field of creating crash-resistant fuel system.

Introduced in 2002, the Ka-226 series of helicopters are designed by the Kamov Design Bureau, part of the Russian Helicopters company. The Ka-226T model is fitted with updated navigation and automatic control equipment, as well as an interchangeable mission pod, which allows for flexible equipment configurations.

Technodinamika is part of the state technologies corporation Rostec.