Defense, military officials inspect Mi-171 helicopter facilities in Russia

The desire of the Duterte administration to pursue an independent foreign policy has resulted to a more robust and progressive bilateral relationship with Russia.

Russia has been known to be a traditionally military equipment exporting country has opened its borders for possible contract with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Defense and military officials from government were recently in Russia to inspect the heavy-lift helicopters that the Philippine military was reportedly planning to acquire.

Russia's Mi-171 heavy-lift helicopter
(photo credit to owner)

Philippine officials were in Moscow from March 3 to 7, as posted by the Philippine Embassy in Russia on a Facebook post.

The Philippine delegation met with their Russian representatives from Sovtechnoexport and visited the Ulan Ude aviation plant in connection with the potential acquisition of Mi-171 helicopters.

“The delegation members, majority of whom are veteran air force pilots, also visited the training center for pilots and maintenance crew, where they had the opportunity to try the pilot simulator systems used for flight training of the aircraft,” the embassy post said.

The embassy post showed photos from the embassy showed the Philippine officials observing the manufacturing and assembly lines of the Mi-171 choppers.

The post did not state how many helicopters were being considered to be bought from Russia, but said the first batch was expected to be delivered by mid-2021. President Rodrigo Duterte had approved the purchase of heavy-lift helicopters, according to a memo from the Office of the President dated Sept. 18, 2019.

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Report from PDI

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