The first batch of Mil Mi-8AMTSh-VN new helicopters for Special Operations Forces will be commissioned with the country’s Armed Forces in early November, CEO of Russian Helicopters Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) Andrei Boginsky told TASS.

"The first batch of the rotorcraft is scheduled to be commissioned this year, before November 10," Boginsky said speaking on the sidelines of the MAKS-2021 international air show. "The next batch is scheduled to be commissioned in 2022."

"We are signed up with orders regarding this issue for the current year as well as for the next year," he added.

This year, the MAKS international air show is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The MAKS-2021, one of the world’s top three air shows, is running in the suburban town of Zhukovsky outside Moscow on July 20-25 with the observance of all anti-coronavirus measures.