tflash Posted December 31, 2009 Posted December 31, 2009 Navair completed in November a very fast and trouble-free delivery of much needed heliocopters for the Afghan air force: http://www.navair.navy.mil/press_releases/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.view&Press_release_id=4223&site_id=29 http://theasiandefence.blogspot.com/2009/11/usa-delivers-new-mi-17-helicopters-to.html In my view something very typical for the current issues. Compare this to to the painstaking fielding of hypercomplex HC3 chinooks for the UK armed forces, and the never-ending delays with NH90 etc. OK, these Mi-17 won't be night capable I guess, and to my knowledge they do not feature advanced DIRCM systems and state-of-the-art trouble-prone software. But they fly, and they are in theatre. For a statistical point of view, the mishap/attrition ratio of these barebones helo's is not significantly different from the very high tech birds, that laso do happen to crash or fall to enemy fire. There is a BIG difference between theory and practice here. Isn't a high-low mix approach a viable option? Keep the high tech for where you really need it and fill the gaps with rugged, maintainable gear that is easy to deploy and maintain? [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
EvilBivol-1 Posted December 31, 2009 Posted December 31, 2009 I would assume the Mi-17s are NVG-compatible. - EB [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Nothing is easy. Everything takes much longer. The Parable of Jane's A-10 Forum Rules
mikoyan Posted December 31, 2009 Posted December 31, 2009 We have several mi-17 in colombia, they are very popular in our country becuse they were used on this rescue operation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Jaque
LonesomeCowboyBert Posted January 1, 2010 Posted January 1, 2010 Ive flown in the things, they are very capable aircraft, and as you alluded to, these days the diferences in abilities are more to do with systems than airframes
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