“Fulfilment of the state defence order is a key strategic priority for us, as it is directly responsible for supporting the country’s defence capabilities,” said Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev. “Today we are carrying out an extensive upgrade programme at our enterprises to boost their growth and efficiency, labour productivity and the quality of the military and commercial products that we manufacture.”

“In 2014 as part of the state defence order we have supplied Russia’s Armed Forces with three Mi-8MTV-5-1s, and plan further deliveries of one Mi-8MTV-2, an additional 17 Mi-8MTV-5-1s and six Ansat-Us built at Kazan Helicopters,” Alexander Mikheev said.

The Mi-8MTV-5-1s delivered to the Defence Ministry underwent extensive testing and were accepted by the 639th Military Representation before being transferred to their duty station. During pre-acceptance testing and acceptance procedures the Military Representation conducted QA tests of build quality and component manufacturing and assembly quality. The finished helicopters in their required specifications were inspected in the final assembly workshop to check the installation and operating capacity of on-board systems, as well as emergency crew support systems. Tests were also conducted at a flight testing facility. All work was carried out in accordance with production schedules, in collaboration with the Defence Ministry.

The Mi-8MTV-5-1 is supplied to Russia’s military and law-enforcement agencies, and is designed to transport up to 4,000 kg of cargo and equipment. The helicopter can also fly search-and-rescue missions and carry out a number of specialised tasks. The cockpit includes lighting systems specially adapted to allow the use of night-vision goggles, enabling the helicopter to fly in hours of darkness at low and extremely low altitudes, and to land on and take off from unprepared sites. Over many years of operation the Mi-8MTV-5 (export name Mi-17V-5) has demonstrated its ability to successfully fly missions in any climatic conditions, and is justifiably known as one of the finest helicopters in its class anywhere in the world.