Russia To Modernize Mexican Air Force Helicopters

Russia’s leading helicopter manufacturer, Russian Helicopters, announced on Sunday that it intends to modernize the Russian-made twin-turbine Mi-17/Mi-17-1V copter fleet of the Mexican Air Force.

"With the warranty period nearing expiration, we offered the Mexican side our services on technical maintenance of these rotorcraft,” said the Director General of Russian Helicopters holding company, Andrei Boginsky, on Sunday, according to TASS news agency.

The company is waiting for a response from the Mexican defense ministry before it drafts a new contract for services.

In 2014 and 2015, the company conducted repairs to the Mexican Air Forces’ 19 Mi-17/Mi-17-1V choppers. The helicopters are used primarily for non-military purposes, such as extinguishing fires and emergency rescue missions.

Russian Helicopters, which is part of the State Corporation Rostec, is Russia’s sole rotorcraft designer and manufacturer, according to the company’s website. According to company data, in 2016 there were over 8,000 Russian-made helicopters operating in over 100 countries. Russian Helicopters’ products are said to account for approximately 90 percent of Russia’s rotorcraft market, and 10 percent of worldwide helicopter sales.

Russia’s Mi-17 copters are considered some of the best made, due to their multipurpose use in combat zones as well. In 2013, the U.S. agreed to purchase up to 86 of them for use in the Afghan Air Force (AAF). While the American-made UH-60 Blackhawk was considered the preferred choice of U.S. lawmakers, the Mi-17 was considered by the U.S. Department of Defense to be the best choice for both the Afghans and the American taxpayer, because Afghan pilots are more familiar with the Mi-17s, and they are cheaper and easier to operate than Blackhawks.

By late 2016, however, due to lobbying by the Connecticut-based company Sikorsky, which manufactures Blackhawks, political concerns and sanctions that had been placed on Russia, the U.S. defense department stopped purchasing Mi-17s.

Mexico is one of the biggest customers for Russian-made choppers, and is just one of several markets in Latin America and the Caribbean where more than 400 have been sold. Other countries include Peru, as well as countries in the Caribbean.

Some analysts view Russia’s military-industrial sales in the Americas as a direct outgrowth of U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks towards Mexico over the past two years, as well as the American lawmakers having little-to-no trust in Russia.

“[Russia] developing relations with the Latin America countries is a logical outcome in view of the current situation that has developed, as a result of relations between Russian and the US,” said military expert Shair Ramaldanov.