A delegation headed by the Indian Ambassador to the Russian Federation Pankaj Saran visited Rostvertol, a part of Russian Helicopters Group. The factory’s production facilities and the line of helicopters manufactured by the company were presented in the course of the visit.

Pankaj Saran, accompanied by Rostvertol’s directors, visited the factory’s main shop, where he was shown the procedure for assembling Mi-35М, Mi-28NE, and Mi-26Т helicopters and saw how parts were machined using state-of-the-art equipment.

The delegation inspected the commercial helicopters produced at the plant. This includes the dual control Mi-28NE attack helicopter, the multirole Mi-35M attack helicopter, and the Mi-26Т2 helicopter, the best in the world in terms of load capacity. A special aerobatic performance of the Mi-28NE was put on for the guests, after which India’s Air Attaché Air Commodore Dhananjai Vishnu Wani, executives from Russian Helicopters and Rostvertol discussed the opportunities and prospects for bilateral cooperation.

“India is a key strategic partner for Russian Helicopters Group and a major operator of Russian-made helicopters. Russian Helicopters is planning to sign a contract with the Indian Ministry of Defense before the end of 2016 to overhaul three Mi-26 helicopters. The repairs performed by the holding will be high-quality and completed on time,” said Igor Chechikov, Russian Helicopters’ Deputy CEO for Aftersales.

The Ambassador expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and was keen to state how impressed he was with the plant’s technical equipment in general and the high-tech equipment in the machine-assembling factory in particular. The guest also highly praised the flight demonstration of the Mi-28NE helicopter and its unequaled maneuverability.

In late July this year, the Indian Ministry of Defense and Rosoboronexport signed a contract for the repair and upgrade of ten Indian Navy Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopters. The repairs will be carried out at Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise.