Defense Technology Inc. (DTI) announced today that they had donated the historical maintenance bulletins for the Mi-17 aircraft to the Afghan Air Force.
The Mi-17 manufacturers (OEMs) regularly issue safety and maintenance bulletins for the aircraft models they have produced. These bulletins contain important flight safety information, new maintenance procedures, required part replacements and other information required by the user to operate the aircraft in a safe manner. The Afghan fleet of Mi-17 is largely composed of older, donated aircraft, many with uncertain maintenance histories and missing documentation. This made obtaining and applying the historical manufacturer’s bulletins for these aircraft extremely important.

“The U.S. Army has been trying to acquire these historical bulletins for some time. Unfortunately, by Russian law, foreign militaries cannot contract directly with the Mi-17 OEMs. Instead, they must work through the Russian government middlemen FSMTC and Rosoboronexport, which makes even a simple transaction, such as purchasing commercial documentation, into a costly and complicated ordeal,” said DTI Afghan Program Manager Byron Kreck.

“DTI works side by side with the Afghan and U.S. soldiers flying and maintaining these aircraft. As the lack of these maintenance bulletins was a flight safety issue, DTI decided purchasing and donating these documents was simply the right thing to do,” said Kreck. DTI acquired these bulletins, which include those issued since 1992, directly from the Mi-17 OEMs Ulan Ude and Kazan.

DTI provides complete Mi-17 life cycle support including acquiring new aircraft, spares, maintenance, training, repairs and overhauls. In 2009, DTI delivered 4 new Mi-17 aircraft to Afghanistan in just 46 days after contract award. With offices in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan and the UAE, DTI is well positioned to support Afghanistan’s Mi-17 requirements.