Continued Sales Success for Mil Mi-17 Series

[Zarvan]

Russian Helicopters continues to find new export markets for improved versions of the Mi-17 medium multirole machine. The latest deliveries consist of five Mi-171Sh to Bangladesh. But the Russian type could face new competition from the AS332 Super Puma and Cougar series, now that Airbus Helicopters has decided to switch its manufacture to lower-cost Romania.

“The geographies to which we deliver modified Mi-171 helicopters expand every year. Today they are in use in Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Peru and beyond,” said Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Russian Helicopters. Compared with earlier versions, the Mi-171 series is equipped with all-weather, day/night avionics and additional fuel tanks. The company is currently flight testing another round of improvements in two Mi-171A2 prototypes. These feature a full Fadec VK-2500PS-03 engine and composite rotor blades including a new X-shaped tail rotor, resulting in increased payload, speed and endurance. The Mi-171A2 has a full glass cockpit with five multifunction displays and needs only two aircrew instead of three.

Airbus Helicopters has redesignated the AS332 C1e/L1e series as the H215, which will be built in a new 10,000-sq-m factory at Brasov. This location has been performing heavy maintenance on Airbus helicopters, and most notably was tasked with the ambitious upgrading of the UK Royal Air Force SA330 Puma fleet. The Romanian operation will henceforth be responsible for all aspects of the H215, producing up to 15 per year from 2017. “This expanded partnership will ensure that our legacy twin-engine heavy helicopters are more economical than ever on current and emerging markets,” said Guillaume Faury, CEO.

Continued Sales Success for Mil Mi-17 Series | Defense News: Aviation International News