India to Have 16 Strong Mi-17 V5 Helicopter Fleet for VVIP Duty

[Zarvan]

Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter

India is likely to commit 10 Mi-17 V5 helicopters for VVIP duty from its recent decision to order 48 more choppers from Russia.

The 10 choppers will be configured for VVIP flights with changes to the interiors, communication and defensive systems.

Informed sources told Defenseworld.net correspondent that the earmarking of 10 new machines for VVIP configuration will add to the six already committed for ferrying VVIPs from the earlier batch of 148 Mi-17 V5 helicopters ordered in 2012.

The procurement of a fresh batch of 48 machines for INR 7000 crore (US$ 1.1 billion) was cleared by India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) last week and is expected to be followed by a commercial contract in which delivery schedules will be agreed upon. Russian Helicopters is expected to complete deliveries under the previous contract by this year-end which means deliveries under the new order will only start from 2016 at the earliest.

With the VVIP fleet boosted by 10 more choppers, this will expand the total to 16 Mi-17 V5 helicopters committed for VVIP duty. India had earlier sought 12 helicopters from AgustaWestand in VVIP configuration which could not be delivered due to the bribery scandal and the subsequent cancellation of the deal.

The decision to go fully with the Mi-17 V5 helicopters for VVIP duty means that there is little or no possibility of reviving the AgustaWestland deal, sources said.

At a unit price of INR 145 crore (US$ 22.5 million), the Mi-17 V5 helicopters will come at approximately half of what India would have paid for 12 AgustaWestland 118 model choppers priced at INR 300 crore each.


India to Have 16 Strong Mi-17 V5 Helicopter Fleet for VVIP Duty

 

[Ind4Ever]

Good

 

[Archie]

this would probably be the 5th order for Mi17 placed by India, and 3rd order for Mi17V5

If you guys dont know,
India ordered 20 Mi17 in year 1996
32 in year 2002
80 Mi17V5 in year 2008
59 Mi17V5 in year 2012
and now finally 48 Mi17V5 in 2015

Someone should have told the idiots at MOD, that they should have ordered 187 Mi17V5 at one go, they would then probably have gotten a better price and TOT

 

[[Bregs]]

This Heli is better the over costly Europeans and has been tested in all type of indent conditions like leh, deserts and plains