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| Mi-171 (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
August 9, 2014: The Russian Helicopter Corporation delivered to China the last of 52 Mi-171E helicopters ordered since 2012. This model can carry up to 37 passengers or four tons of cargo and has engines that are particularly effective under "hot and high" conditions. This is useful for the Chinese, who need equipment that can operate in Tibet (where many areas are at altitudes of over 4,000 meters). China is quite fond of the Mi-17 and the older Mi-8 it is derived from. Currently China operates 160 Mi-171 helicopters.
In 2008 China signed deals that allows it to legally manufacture the Mi-171, but it is still buying them from Russia because it takes time to set up manufacturing facilities and China needs more military transport helicopters right now and can afford to pay. Currently China has about 300 Mi-17/Mi-8 type helicopters and over 500 locally made helicopters. Most (Z9/Z-19) of these local builds are based on the Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin while another hundred locally built Z-10 gunships were based on a Russian design. China has shown a preference for the Mi-8/17 design and would like to build a thousand or more Mi-171s locally under license.
In 2010 Chinese and Russian helicopter manufacturers established a joint venture to perform maintenance and refurbishment on helicopters, especially those of Russian design. This is part of a larger plan, which also includes the factory in China building Mi-171s.
Read the full story at StrategyPage