IAF gives ‘VIP touch’ to Mi-17 choppers

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

With the Mi-8 helicopters on the last leg of their operational life and plans to induct the Italian Agusta Westland machines having run aground over corruption charges, the IAF is modifying the newly acquired Russian Mi-17 V5 choppers to meet the requirements of ferrying the nation’s top leaders.

Five Mi-17 V5 helicopters are being modified at the Air Force’s No.3 Base Repair Depot (3BRD), and the project would be completed in about six months time, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Maintenance Command, Air Marshal Jagjeet Singh told The Tribune.

Modification of the choppers includes refurbishment, air conditioning and soundproofing of the cabin, installing passenger seats as in airliners, making provisions for a small toilet and adding other necessary security and communications paraphernalia.

While seats have been sourced from Air India, some of the equipment being installed has been imported. Each item, whether technical equipment or furnishing articles, is being certified to meet the required aviation standards for stress, fire resistance, impact survivability and other security concerns.

The modified choppers would be inducted into the Air Headquarters Communications Squadron based at Palam, which operates a mix of helicopters and fixed-wing executive jets for ferrying VVIPs. The squadron’s Mi-8s, which wear a blue livery distinct from the low-visibility grey drab worn by other IAF aircraft, have been in service for almost three decades and are at the end of their technical life, after having undergone repeated life extension certifications. The IAF had started de-commissioning the earlier versions of Mi-8 helicopters in the mid-2000s.

The Air Force had ordered a total of 139 Mi-17 V5 helicopters to replace the Mi-8 and the older versions of the Mi-17. These were assembled and flight tested by 3BRD, where technical facilities are also being set up for their maintenance and overhaul.