In February 2016, Rostec State Corporation of Russia handed over to India the final batch of three helicopters of the contract for 151 Mi-17V-5 helicopters. They were manufactured by Kazan Helicopter Plant, part of Russian Helicopters.
India is one of the largest operators of Russian military equipment. Taking into consideration all the enterprises that are currently under the Russian Helicopters holding company, it has delivered to India 110 units of the Mi-4, 128 units of the Mi-8 and about 160 units of the Mi-17, according to Rostec.
In 2008, India had signed a contract with Rosoboronexport for the delivery of 80 Mi-17V-5, which was completed in 2011-2013. In 2012-2013, three additional deals were signed to supply a total of 71 Mi-17V-5 for the needs of the Air Force, the Home Ministry and the Secretariat of the PM of India, Rostec said.
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The Mi-17V-5 supplied to India are among the most technically advanced helicopters of the Mi-8/17 type, incorporating the best engineering solutions of previous generations, according to Rostec. Each Indian Mi-17V-5 has a complex navigation and electronic display, KNEI-8.
In this, the numerous indicators of various information are replaced with four multi-function displays, unloading the dashboards and greatly facilitates the work of the crew. It also significantly simplifies pre-flight check of the helicopter, with information from all sensors of connected systems available on a single monitor.
In addition, the helicopters are equipped with modern powerful engines, which significantly extends the capabilities for the transport of heavy and bulky loads. They are especially suited for mountainous and high altitude regions of India.
Mi-17 V5 helicopter is specially designed with full glass cockpit, advanced avionics, weather radar and powerful aero engines for high altitude operations, the Defence Ministry had stated earlier. “The helicopter is being exploited for various civil and military operations such as transportation, paratrooper induction, search and rescue, medical evacuation and fire fighting in all weather conditions,” the MoD said in its annual report of 2017. The Night Vision Goggles compatibility enables its unhindered operations even during low visibility and dark night conditions, it added.
