SME Times News Bureau | 23 Jan, 2018
A contract for Mi-17V-5
helicopters, which was supposed to be signed last year, is now
expected to be finalised soon, a top Russian official has
said.
"Negotiations with the Indian side on the
delivery of 48 Mi-17V-5 helicopters have been completed; we expect to
sign the corresponding contract in the first quarter of 2018,"
CEO of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, Sergey Chemezov, told IANS
in an interview.
He also said that there is "serious
modernisation potential" in the Mi-17 and Mi-8 choppers which
was proven by the development of the Mi-171A2 helicopter.
The
Mi-171A2 is an advanced medium multirole helicopter, based on the
Mi-8/17 series with more powerful propulsion systems, upgraded main
rotor, gear systems and fuselage and advanced avionics.
Chemezov
said the chopper has seen more than 80 new improvements in the
platform.
India at present has around 151 Mi-17V-5
helicopters, the last of which were delivered in January 2016.
The
Mi-17V-5 is based on the Mi 8 helicopter airframe and is one of the
most advanced aircraft of the Mi-8/17 helicopter family.
The
helicopters are equipped with night vision technology, on-board
weather radar, a new PKV-8 autopilot system, and a KNEI-8 avionics
suite.
The sturdy choppers have been the Indian Air
Force's mainstay in a number of humanitarian assistance and disaster
relief operations.
The chopper was also used during the
Mumbai terror attack of November 2008, where it aided in the commando
assault to take back Chabad House. It is also said to have been used
in the surgical strike carried out on Pakistani terror launch pads
across the Line of Control in September 2016.
It has
TV3-117BM turboshaft engines, rated at 1900 hp each, giving the
chopper greater service and hovering ceiling, and have proved
efficient in the tough mountain terrain of the Himalayas.
Asked
about a recent tender for 111 Naval Utility Helicopters that India
came out with, Chemezov said Russia will be participating in the
tender with its Kamov Ka-226T helicopter.
Chemezov said
Ka-226T met all specifications of the tender, and a solution for
Naval use of the helicopter had also been found.
"Our
helicopter meets all the requirements presented in the tender
documentation, and its technical characteristics exceed our
competitors. We already have a solution for the naval version of this
helicopter with folding blades," he said.
"If
the Ministry of Defence of India selects the Ka-226T, India can save
money significantly. Thanks to the project for joint production of
helicopters, there are opportunities for joint maintenance, training
of pilots and mechanics and other related costs," he said.
He
added that there will also be a scope to export the helicopters once
India's requirements are met.
In anticipation of the
contract, the two countries have formed a joint venture for 200
Ka-226T helicopters, 40-60 of which are likely to be imported
off-the-shelf from Russia, with the rest being assembled in
India.
At the Russian-Indian summit in Moscow in December
2015, an intergovernmental agreement was signed for implementation of
the project for production of Ka-226T helicopters in India.
In
October 2016, at the Russian-Indian summit in Goa, the parties signed
a Partner Agreement and ratified the Memorandum and Articles of
Association of the new Joint Venture, which was announced at the
BRICS summit.
The Russian side has 49.5 per cent share,
while India has 50.5 per cent stake in the Joint Venture which got
Russian President Vladimir Putin's nod in April and was registered in
India in May this year.