New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and others that met with an accident earlier Wednesday near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu is one of the world’s most advanced transport helicopters.
Produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters, Mi-17V5 is a military transport variant in the Mi-8/17 family of helicopters.
Designed to transport cargo inside the cabin and on an external sling, the helicopter can also be deployed in troop and arms transport, fire support, convoy escort, patrol, and search-and-rescue (SAR) missions.
It was in December 2008, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded a $1.3bn contract to Moscow-based Russian Helicopters for 80 helicopters. By early 2013, 36 helicopters were delivered to the IAF.
The MoD and Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms supplier, signed agreements for 71 Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters during 2012-13. The first batch of Mi-17V-5 was delivered to India in July 2018.
Read: CDS Bipin Rawat on ventilator after chopper crash near Ooty
After India, the US Department of Defence placed a contract with Rosoboronexport for the delivery of Mi-17V-5 helicopters to the Afghan National Army (ANA) in 2011. The helicopters were delivered to the Afghan Armed Forces in October 2014.
In October 2014, the helicopter manufacturing company delivered a batch of Mi-8MTV-5-1 helicopters to the Russian Defence Ministry.
According to information available on the website of Rosoboronexport, the military transport helicopter is designed to fly in tropical and maritime climates, as well as desert conditions. The glass cockpit of the helicopter is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, including four multifunction displays (MFDs), night-vision equipment, an onboard weather radar, and an autopilot system.
The Mi 17-V5 series medium lift helicopter can carry a maximum takeoff weight of 13,000kg. It can transport either 36 armed soldiers internally or 4,500kg of load on a sling.
The custom-made Indian Mi-17V-5 helicopters are equipped with a KNEI-8 avionics suite including navigation, information displays and cueing systems.
The helicopter has a maximum speed of 250km/h, and a standard range of 580km, which can be extended to 1,065km when fitted with two auxiliary fuel tanks. It can fly at a maximum altitude of 6,000m.
