Russian Helicopters strikes deals with China, Vietnam at Singapore Airshow

CHANGI, Singapore, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Russian Helicopters struck an agreement to sell nine helicopters to China and is reviewing helicopter repair and maintenance cooperation with Vietnam.

Under the signed contracts with China, Russian Helicopters will supply seven Ka-32A11BC and two Mi171 helicopters to various Chinese entities. The Ka-32A11BC is a multi-role helicopter designed to operate in urban, mountainous and forested environments. They can also be used for search-and-rescue and firefighting missions.

"Our multirole helicopters can perform any task in various climates and weather conditions," Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev said.

In addition, Russian Helicopters is reviewing potential plans to conduct Mi-8/17 military helicopter repairs at the joint Russo-Vietnamese venture HELITECHCO. The company is scheduled to perform a technical audit of the venture to check its compliance to perform maintenance and repairs for the aircraft.

Russian Helicopters aftersales service deputy CEO Igor Chechikov says the operations will involve re-equipping the venture and more training for their specialists. HELITECHCO has been used to repair civilian helicopters since it was founded in 1994.

The company added that the Vietnamese delegation has also showed interest in purchasing the Ansat helicopters for training purposes.

The agreements were made during the 2016 Singapore Airshow, a biennial event where defense and aerospace contractors showcase their products. Russian Helicopters is part of the Russian state-owned Rostec corporation.