AW-139 to become first foreign helicopter in Russian Army

Jan 30, 2013 Ilya Kramnik - Voice of Russia

This year Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to buy seven AW-139 helicopters, the price of the contract is 630 million rubles (around $20 million). These British-Italian helicopter will become first foreign helicopter on the inventory of the Russian armed forces.

AW-139 is a light helicopter and the helicopters of this class have always been in deficit in the USSR and in Russia.

The Mi-1was the main light helicopter in the Soviet army between 1950 and 1965. Its successor Mi-2 was on the inventory between 1965 and 1998.

Though those helicopters were designed in the USSR they were assembled in Poland by the PZL-Swidnik company. After the break-up of the Soviet Union the Soviet-Polish cooperation ended and Russia began to develop new models of light helicopters.

For example, Ka-62 is regarded as a quite promising aircraft and Russian has already signed the first export contract under which it is to supply 7 Ka-62 helicopters to Brazil in 2015-2016. The Russian army also needs light helicopters. However the first flight of the new helicopter will take place only in August-September. After that the helicopters of the preproduction batch will be tested.

In Russia first AW139 helicopter is assembled by HeliVert, a Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland joint venture. Setting up this joint venture in the Moscow region became a natural response to the market needs.

First AW-139 helicopters which are to be put on the inventory of the Russian army will be used for transportation of military officers but in prospect the application is much wider. The light helicopters can be used for reconnaissance, medical and rescue missions, transportation of light cargos and units of paratroopers.

Now the Mi-8 helicopters which became the most universal aircraft in the Russian army is widely used for all these purposes. At the same time in the current economic situation it is not reasonable to squander the resource of the vehicle which costs 7-10 million. That is why the assembly of AW-139 helicopter in Russia and the prospects of the assembly of a new one-engine helicopter by HeliVert can be an optimal solution which will enable to make up for the shortage of light helicopters which will be even in greater demand in the near future.