The first batch of Mi-17V5 helicopters has been delivered from Russia to Indian air base in Punjab state, Vzglyad.ru reports with reference to a source in the Indian Ministry of Defense.

«The central air base in Chandigarh has acquired helicopters in a partially dismounted condition on September 29th. The full assembly and testing will be carried out by Russian specialists, accompanying the vehicles», - the source said.

The Indian armed forces have been operating Mi-17 helicopters for a long time; it is the basic helicopter in Ladakh, Arunachal-Pradesh,         Himachal-Pradesh in the conditions of high-altitude near Himalayas.

The previous deliveries of basic Mi-17s have been completed in 2000-2004. Nowadays the modernized vehicles are being put into operation, intended for special missions – transporting of vehicles and troops, search-and-rescue operations, evacuation, disaster relief and emergency works.

As noted by the Indian air forces Command, the bases for deploying of new vehicles have been chosen taking into account the neighboring regions – China and Pakistan.

The contract on delivery of 80 Mi-17V5 helicopters has been signed by Rosoboronexport and Indian Ministry of Defense in 2008. The total amount of the contract is $1,354 billion. As noted by the Ministry of Defense of India, “in accordance with the schedule, approved by the parties, delivery of the first batch of helicopters should have been completed in March 2010 and the last one should be delivered by 2015”.

Meanwhile, Dmitry Petrov, CEO of Russian Helicopters holding company, has noted earlier that the start of the contract’s implementation has been delayed, because the customer had been choosing the configuration of equipment for a long time. After the customer had made his choice, the Russian Helicopters had to carry out additional testing of modernized Мi-17V5s. «At present all the problems are solved. The contract is being implemented», - Petrov added.