An Indian Air Force Mi-17V5 helicopter with Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat onboard met with an accident near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday afternoon. Rawat, his wife, Madhulika, have died along with 11 others onboard, the IAF said in the evening. An inquiry has been ordered to look into the cause of the crash. Here’s what you need to know about the MI-17V5 helicopter.
The Indian government had awarded a contract to the Russian manufacturers for 80 Mi-17V5 helicopters in 2008 at a cost of USD 1.3 billion. While the first of these were delivered to India in 2013, the final batch arrived in 2018.
The helicopter has many variants, including a 36-seater for carrying troops, for cargo transport and a version with an emergency flotation system. It is operated by a three-member crew — a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer.
The single-rotor helicopter can gain a maximum speed of 250 km per hour and a cruise speed of 230 km per hour. While its main fuel tanks’ range is 675 km, with two auxiliary fuel tanks it can fly for 1,180 km. It can carry a maximum payload of 4,000 kg.
The helicopter has a maximum takeoff weight of 13,000kg. It can transport either 36 armed soldiers internally or 4,500kg of load on a sling.
The Mi-17V-5 supplied to India are among the most technically advanced helicopters of the Mi-8/17 type, incorporating the best engineering solutions of previous generations, according to Rostec. Each Indian Mi-17V-5 has a complex navigation and electronic display, KNEI-8.
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The Mi series copters are the workhorse of the Indian Air Force. They are used in high-altitude operations and ferry VIPs, including the prime minister.
In this, the numerous indicators of various information are replaced with four multi-function displays, unloading the dashboards and greatly facilitates the work of the crew. It also significantly simplifies pre-flight check of the helicopter, with information from all sensors of connected systems available on a single monitor.
Mi-17V5 is armed with Shturm-V missiles, S-8 rockets, a 23mm machine gun, PKT machine guns, and AKM sub-machine guns. It features eight firing posts for aiming the weapons. The onboard armament allows the crew to engage enemy personnel, armoured vehicles, land-based targets, fortified fire posts, and other fixed and moving targets.
The cockpit and vital components of the Mi-17V-5 helicopter are protected by armoured plates. The aft machine gun position is also fitted with armoured plates to protect the gunner. According to latest data, the IAF currently has over 200 of these helicopters in service.
(With inputs from PTI)
