Aiming to support the Make in India initiative in the Defence programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Air Force has decided to cancel plans to buy 48 more Mi-17 V5 helicopters from Russia.
Top government sources said that the decision to withdraw the tender for the 48 helicopters that was taken much before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out and has nothing to do with the global scenario.
“The tender for 48 Mi-17V5 helicopters has been withdrawn in view of the push for indigenisation. The IAF would now be supporting an indigenous programme for helicopters,” the sources said.
India has been strongly working towards indigenisation in the defence sector and has put on hold or cancelled a large number of contracts for imports in the recent past, the sources said. The Mi-17V5 is produced and manufactured in Kazan, a city in southwest Russia. It is a modern military transport helicopter used by the Indian Air Force.
These helicopters are part of a larger family of high-performance and multipurpose Mi-17s that can fly at high altitudes in complex weather conditions, be it in tropical and maritime climates or even in desert conditions.
