A decade after the AugustaWestland fiasco, IAF renews hunt for VVIP helicopters

FOOLS_NIGHTMARE · May 19, 2023

The air force has been making do with the Russian Mi-17 V-5 helicopters to ferry VVIPs, but maintenance issues have come up due to the Ukraine war

Almost a decade after the proposed deal to procure AugustaWestland helicopters went into a logjam and was cancelled, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has renewed the hunt for an ideal chopper to fly the country’s VVIPs, including the president, vice-president and prime minister.

The Rs 3,700 crore purchase of 12 helicopters from AugustaWestland was cancelled by the Congress-led UPA government in January 2014, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, over accusations that the Anglo-Italian company had paid hefty bribes to Indian officials, including a former IAF chief, to swing the deal.

After coming to power, the Narendra Modi government blacklisted AgustaWestland. India recovered much of the money that had been paid for the 12 helicopters by invoking bank guarantees. Incidentally, three AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters, which had arrived in India in 2012 as the first batch of the scheduled delivery, remain parked at the IAF’s Palam airbase in Delhi.

Since the cancellation of the deal, the IAF has been making do with the Russian-origin Mi-17 V-5 helicopters to ferry VVIPs. But service and maintenance issues have come up with this fleet due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Mi-17 is a Russian-origin helicopter, but several key components, including the engine, are manufactured in Ukraine.

It was in 2008 that India signed a contract with Russia’s Rosoboronexport for 80 Mi-17 V-5 models. The IAF plans to start retiring these choppers by 2028. Accordingly, the IAF headquarters in New Delhi has started working towards acquiring new choppers for its VVIP fleet.

The Air Staff Quality Requirements (ASQR) are being finalised by the IAF headquarters for the required chopper before being sent to the ministry of defence. ASQR is the first and most critical process for acquisition of air assets as it determines aspects such as quality, technical specification, price and competition.

However, the Special Protection Group (SPG)—the elite force responsible for the security of the Indian prime minister—will also have a strong say in the selection of the VVIP helicopter. The SPG will assess if the chosen helicopter has adequate space to accommodate safety equipment. Back in 2004, the SPG had played a major role in framing technical specifications for helicopters purchases, which ultimately allowed AugustaWestland’s AW101 in the race.

The good news is that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is simultaneously working on developing an indigenous medium-lift helicopter that can meet the IAF’s VVIP fleet specifications. However, the project is unlikely to take concrete shape before the next 5-7 years.

Besides ferrying VVIPs, the medium-lift Mi-17 V-5 has been used by the IAF on multiple fronts, such as supporting troops at forward locations and undertaking relief and rescue missions. It has operated in various types of terrain, including the Siachen Glacier, and proven its mettle in UN missions. The Mi-17 V-5 can carry over five tonnes of load, equivalent to about 24 passengers. However, it has had its share of infamy, being the chopper that crashed in December 2021 near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, killing India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and several IAF personnel.