Russia Seeks to Supply Mi-17 Antarctic-Suited Helicopters to Chile

Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport Deputy Director General Sergey Goreslavsky said that the arctic and polar variant of the Mi-17 type helicopter could be popular in Chile, a country which is implementing a policy of exploring the Antarctic.

KUBINKA (Moscow Region) (Sputnik) — Russia is seeking to offer its new Mil Mi-17 transport helicopter variants suited to operating in the Antarctic to Chile, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport Deputy Director General Sergey Goreslavsky told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"We now have the arctic and polar variant of the Mi-17 type helicopter, and we count on it to be popular, including in Chile, a country which is implementing a policy of exploring the Antarctic," Goreslavsky said on the sidelines of the ongoing Army-2016 international military and technical forum near Moscow.

Russia has traditionally offered the Latin American country, which claims a part of Antarctica, a range of aircraft systems, including helicopters and planes, he added, noting the priority of supplying the new Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer, which was introduced in 2010.

"I cannot say that we are discussing some specific projects. But we hope that there will be a time when we unite the Chileans around a negotiating table," the deputy director said.

The Mil Mi-17 helicopter was developed and introduced in the 1970s, with dozens of variant modifications created to suit various operating conditions, climates and customers developed since then.

The specialized Mi-8AMTSh-VA helicopter is currently being developed by the Russian Helicopters company for military operations in polar conditions. The variant is based on the latest modification of the Mi-8AMTSh-V military transport helicopter, which is fitted with new VK-2500-03 turboshaft engines, a more powerful auxiliary power unit and upgraded avionics systems.