The upgraded version of the Mi-24 helicopter will be adopted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in March 2012, Andriy Artiushenko, the director of development and procurement of weapons and military equipment of the Ministry of Defense, briefed the press Tuesday.

“The modernized Mi-24 undergoes tests at one of the Ministry of Defense’s training grounds. In March we will put it into service,” he said.

According to Artiushenko, the first production versions of the helicopter will be sent to the Land Forces to use them in providing security measures for the football championship UEFA EURO 2012 in Ukraine. With this purpose, the budget of the Ministry of Defense provided tens of millions of hryvnias to complete the modernization of the helicopter,” he added.

He added that work is also underway to upgrade the transport helicopter Mi-8MT.

The Defense Ministry official noted that NATO member countries are interested in the Ukrainian helicopter, because this aircraft is perfect for use in solving the tasks in Afghanistan.

He also said that Motor Sich has started to modernize the Mi-2 helicopter, which is planned for the new service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – Special Forces.