Indian Mi-17-V5 Copter To Be Based In Punjab

Mi-17-V5

A more powerful and versatile variant of the Mi-17 military chopper is slated to arrive from Russia in 2-3 weeks to beef up the Indian Air Force fleet. It will be based in Punjab.

Sources confirmed that the first lot of the latest Mi-17-V5 is to arrive in the next couple of weeks and will be stationed at a major airbase in the southern part of Punjab. The location has been chosen with care to cater to surrounding areas.

Originally, the first lot of Mi-17-V5 was expected arrive in March. These are part of the 80 choppers India ordered from Russia in 2008 by signing a contract with Rosoboronexport, the state arms exporter. According to the Indian Ministry of Defence, the deal is worth $1.35 billion (Rs 6,000 crore).

The IAF aims to utilise the Mi-17-V5 helicopters for special heli-borne operations, air-maintenance, transportation of troops and equipment, search and rescue, casualty evacuation and in armed helicopter roles.

For long, Mi-17 chopper variants have been used by para-commandos of the Army and also the Special Operations Group of the NSG. The latest variant will be able to drop 25 troops in one go and from multiple on-board exit points.

At present, the Mi-17-IV version of the chopper is the latest variant in the IAF fleet. The last lot was inducted between 2000 and 2004. The IAF has been operating various types on ‘Mi’ series choppers in the past 40 years. This includes the famous heli-borne operations to drop guns and troops in East Pakistan and also its use during the initial stages of the Kargil war in 1999. The chopper is considered a workhorse in the far-flung areas of Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas.

Strategically, India neighbours - Pakistan and China - also operate Mi-17 choppers. While Pakistan has got a few Mi-17-V5 choppers through the US that purchased the same for Afghanistan, China has a joint production agreement with Russia, but is yet to get the Mi-17-V5.

The new variant will have the ability to allow the pilots to start the engines at altitudes of 6,000 m (about 21,000 ft) thus helping in servicing various high-altitude posts in the Himalayas. Each of the two engines can generate 2,200 hp of power. This is a significant improvement over the previous version which has two engines of 1,950 hp each.

www.tribuneindia.com

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog