The HeliRussia exhibition was held from May 20-22 in Moscow, making the show one of the very few international events held in the current pandemic. Apart from being a meeting point for the rotorcraft industry, HeliRussia-2021 gave a real chance to receive a fresh portion of information on Russian defence exports.
On the first day of the show, Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev disclosed several figures. According to him, over the last 10 years alone, Rosoboronexport has offered and successfully delivered over 850 helicopters worth about $20Bn to more than 35 countries. He also mentioned the total volume of the Rosoboronexport current portfolio is $52.1Bn.
The national state exporter has already supplied to customers about 23 per cent of the total volume of weapons scheduled in this year’s plan. Mikheev stated that in 2020 Rosoboronexport sold military products worth about $13Bn and has already signed contracts for $4Bn in 2021.
Key HeliRussia Exhibits
The company booth at HeliRussia 2021 presented the most popular export models of the Russian-made military and dual-purpose helicopters, one being the Mi-17V5 military-transport rotorcraft. According to Mr. Mikheev, more than 270 of this type have been delivered over the last decade.
Other machines presented by Rosoboronexport include:
- an upgraded version of the Ka-52 attack helicopter
- Mi-28NE new generation attack helicopter with round-the-clock capabilities
- Mi-35M and Mi-35P gunships
- Mi-171SH special forces support helicopter
- the new Mi-38T medium assault/transport helicopter
Mr. Mikheev didn’t limit his talk just to the rotorcraft industry products. He stated that “the first deliveries of S-400 TRIUMPH anti-aircraft missile systems to India will take place in October-December this year”. He added that Indian personnel training is going on schedule.
According to Mr. Mikheev, Rosoboronexport promotes Russian military drones for export only after they are adopted by the Russian army. He also mentioned that Russia’s anti-terrorist operation in Syria helps promote the country’s defence equipment to the world market.
Yury Laskin
