Air force eyes 80 new helicopters
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) wants to purchase 80 more Mi-17 multi-utility helicopters to augment its capability for humanitarian operations but it could be a while before they arrive, a top defence official said Wednesday.
"The negotiations are on (with the Russians) but when the machines will come is anybody's guess," said the official who did not want to be named.
"This will be a follow-on order to the Mi-17s we have purchased in the past," he said.
He, however, declined to put a price to the deal, saying the negotiations hinged on this issue.
US aerospace major Sikorsky is known to have offered one of its medium-lift helicopters to the IAF. The defence ministry, however, feels that even though the US craft might be a superior product, a global tender would have to be floated before it could even be considered and this would considerably delay the acquisition.
The ministry thus feels purchasing the Russian Mi-17 - which is already in service with India's air force and the paramilitary Border Security Force - would be a better option.
The IAF, which currently has 50 Mi-17s, began feeling the need for the additional helicopters after a series of natural disasters beginning with the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami, the heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir and the October 2005 earthquake in the same state, as also devastating floods in various parts of the country last year.
"The Mi-17 proved to be a reliable workhorse through all these disasters but this also put tremendous pressure on us because it cut into our operational requirements. That is when we realised the need for 80 additional helicopters," the official pointed out.
The Mi-17s were inducted from the mid-1980s onwards. They are deployed for a variety of tasks like ferrying troops, airdropping supplies, evacuating casualties, search and rescue, and ferrying VIPs.
They can carry 15 fully equipped troops or five tonnes of equipment. Some Mi-17s have also been fitted with 57 mm rocket pods to give them attack capability.
About 20 Mi-17s form part of the Indian contingents deployed with UN peacekeeping missions in Congo and the Sudan.
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