IAF to assemble 50 more Mi17 choppers

[sancho]

@sancho, i agree- give all rotary wings over than Chinooks over to the IA except for a limited number of V5s for the IAF's specific roles ie CSAR and such (although they can buy their own dedicated and customised helos for such roles in an ideal world).

It certainly makes more sense for the IA to get such assets, the only thing is it would take a while to get the requisite number of AAC pilots up to scratch. But no doubt about it AAC pilots are amongst the best helo pilots in the world and will properly utilise the helos to support the IA as a whole.

Mi17s in CSAR role would hardly fit imo, since IAF would still require a larger number to cover the wide border area. Better would be a limited number of V22s for that role and combined with the C130Js in the special ops groups. The Israelis seems to be the first export customer of the V22 and most likely for this role.