PHOTO : RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS
Russia is preparing to sign a contract to export 48 Mi-17-V5 helicopters to India, the state-run news agency Sputnik reported on July 12 citing a source in state manufacturer Russian Helicopters.
“We are looking forward for the buyer’s final decision to sign the contract. After that we can start executing it,” the source said.
The Mil-17-V5 military and transport helicopter is equipped with the new Klimov VK-2500 turboshaft engine. A total of 12,000 Mi-17 helicopters of different variants have been delivered to clients in 110 countries so far.
Those are pretty small numbers for India, although by the persistance of these intrigues probably means that India fears that the resurgence of one conflicts will get Washington to throttle arms sales and/or they’re playing the opposing sides off each other so they’ll underbid each other.
Or, like any other country who cares about what they receive for what they pay, they’re going to purchase a relatively small batch to see how the choppers work in their climate and then make a deal for a larger numbers with some modifications. Very few countries buy weapons in huge numbers without checking them first (Eurofighters fail spectacularly in the Arabian peninsula deserts) which is a way to pay bribes and tributes for protection.
More than that, India is very interested in partnership for their arms to produce them domestically. They did this before with Russia.
Always the old saying is true is to always get the best bang for your buck we had different ideas when younger what it meant for us.
Expect the US to fully impose additional sanctions on India for this deal, while they try to peddle their own shitty Blackhawks instead.