News Story: India, Russia make progress toward Ka-226T helicopter production

Kamov Ka-226T (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — India and Russia have drawn the road map for the joint production of Kamov Ka-226T light utility helicopters in the South Asian country, kick-starting the $1 billion program. 

"With the road map now in place, the production of Kamov 226T helicopters has formally taken off," said a top executive of the state enterprise Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which was the production agency nominated by the two nations. 

Gopal Sutar, the chief of media communications at HAL, said: "The helicopters are to be produced through a joint venture company as per the intergovernment agreement between the two countries in October 2016, and the road map for the acquisition is finalized." 

The joint production of the helicopters in India now awaits formal approval by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will lead to the new production entity Indo-Russian Helicopters Private Limited. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews