Russian Helicopters, part of State Corporation Rostec, has won an international tender and signed a contract with Balochistan provincial government to supply a Mi-171 helicopter.  The helicopter is expected to be delivered in the first part of this year.  

The government of Balochistan will use its first Russian civilian Mi-171 for transporting passengers and cargo, sanitation tasks, patrolling and emergency response.

“Our victory in the tender is a natural indication that Russian helicopters are most suitable for use in this region. We expect that the Pakistani authorities will continue to increase the volume of deliveries of Russian rotorcraft in the future.  There are preconditions for that already,” – said Russian Helicopters Deputy CEO for Marketing and Business Development Alexander Shcherbinin.

The Mi-17-type helicopter was chosen for Balochistan due to its proven reliability and efficiency in a wide variety of climates, ability to store without a hangar, ease of maintenance and operation in areas with limited development of ground infrastructure.

The Mi-17-type helicopters are produced at Russian Helicopters’ Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant and Kazan Helicopter Plant.  As of 2014, more than 12 thousand units have been made, which is a world record for twin-engine helicopters.  They were delivered to more than 100 countries and their total flight time totals about 100 million hours.