commercial market. The emergence of medical options was the final step in creating a unified helicopter, certified for transport and medical works, transportation of people. Earlier, versions of these helicopters were used by the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB and other state structures of Russia. A VIP version of the Ansat helicopter was certified on 31 December 2015 and with a cabin in the style of the Aurus luxury cars brand in early February 2020. The helicopter is equipped with hydromechanical control system and its passenger cabin can accommodate up to seven energy-absorbing passenger seats. There is also a ventilation and air conditioning system. According to General Director at Kazan Helicopter Plant Vadim Ligai, work is underway to modernize the helicopter's fuel system and install additional 200 kg fuel tanks in order to increase its flight range. On 28 October 2016, Russian Helicopters has presented a civilian version of the Ansat helicopter. In 2017–2018, the helicopter has been certified for operation under extremely cold and high temperatures from minus 45°С to plus 50°С, during a series of ground and flight testing. In January 2019, on the basis of trials conducted at Mount Elbrus in 2018, the Federal Air Transport Agency certified the increase in take-off/landing altitude of the Ansat from previous 1,000 m to 3,500 m and approved the helicopter for high-altitude operations. Ansat helicopter optional Emergency Floatation System certified in March 2020. Since May 2020, a specially-adapted medical version is used to transport patients with the novel coronavirus in Russia. In December 2020, the first flight of the modernized Ansat-M took place. The installations of a winch with a lifting capacity of up to 272 kg and an external sling for carrying oversized cargo and extinguishing fires were certified in April 2021 and the installation of an external fuel tank increasing range by 140 km in December 2021. Procurement The Russian Defence Ministry placed an order for eight Ansat-U military helicopters in 2009–2010, becoming the initial launch customer of the variant. On 1 March 2011, it ordered another 32 Ansat-U helicopters. Under a third contract signed on 5 June 2017, ten more Ansat-U helicopters were ordered. Russian Air Force received the last batch of Ansat-U helicopters on 20 December 2017. All Ansat helicopters of the Russian Air Force are operated by the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School, a branch of the Zhukovsky