The Russian Defense Ministry buys a domestic helicopter, which was created specifically for foreign armies.
The Mi-35M multipurpose attack helicopter will enter service with the Russian army for the first time. The amount of the contract is estimated at 10-12 billion rubles.
The decision to purchase the Mi-35M was made by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. This was announced at the annual meeting of shareholders by the general director of the Rostov helicopter plant Boris Slyusar. According to him, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense is placing an order for 22 aircraft of this model. Deliveries will take place between 2010 and 2015. Thanks to the state order, the enterprise will be provided with workload for many years.
The production of the Mi-35 series transport and combat helicopter began at the Rostov plant in 1986. It is an export version of the famous "flying tank" Mi-24, also produced in Rostov-on-Don. The "foreigner" differs from the basic model in the composition of the armament and in a slightly modified appearance. These vehicles are in service with the armies of 20 states, including the Czech Republic, Afghanistan, Venezuela. The Mi-35 was recently purchased by the Brazilian Air Force.
The "thirty-fifth" was never delivered to the Russian army, since the Mi-24 was the basis of our country's army aviation. Depending on the tasks assigned, this model can act on the battlefield not only as a combat helicopter, but also as a carrier of troops and vehicles.
Several years ago, the military decided to completely renovate the helicopter fleet of the Ground Forces. The well-deserved "twenty-four" was to be replaced by the all-weather attack helicopter Mi-28N - "night hunter", the production of which was established at the Rostov plant. The Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force has set the task of acquiring 300 of these helicopters over the course of several years.
However, for various reasons, rearmament is proceeding slowly. Rostovites hand over to the customer only two cars a year. True, experts explain this by the difficulties of the transition period. In the near future, it is planned to triple the output of "night hunters".
Although the Mi-28 has just rolled off the assembly line, it has shown good export potential. So, for the army of Algeria, the production of the Mi-28NE with dual control and digital radio-electronic equipment has begun. The Mi-28NU combat training helicopter is being created in Rostov especially for foreign buyers. In August this year, the plant will take part in a tender for the supply of heavy transport helicopters to India.
by the way
Rostov Helicopter Plant is included in the list of strategic enterprises in Russia, which are provided with state support. Last year, 178 million rubles were transferred from the federal budget for these purposes, which is 2.5 times more than the amount of funding in the previous year.
