sancho
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Yes reliable because the helo is on the ground most of the time so there is very little risk of crashs. And if India sighns this deal we have no idea when it will be delivered. Look at Mil-17VI deal, was supposed to be delivered early 2011, it is now lat August and still NO SIGN!! You can have the best helos in the world but if you deliver constanly late than what's the point? India doesn't need this headache anymore and can afford much better equipment from much more reliable partners.
The operational history says something else isn't it ? And again, it seems that IAF has is confident that the Russians will supply the Mi 171 in time, otherwise they wouldn't order additional 59 of them, or even upgrade the available once with new avionics, because if they wouldn't be happy with it, they could have gone with AW 101s, that will be procured for IAF VIP fleet as well. However the fact is, IAF is indeed happy with the performance of Russian helicopters, especially in the different climate conditions in India, just like IN seems to be happy with the Kamov helicopters. When spare supply is secured, the Mil helicopters are cheap, reliable, rugged and in the heavy lift area, there is simply no real match for the Mi 26, except of the CH 53 maybe, which isn't in the competition anymore. Btw, for India there is no other partner that is more reliable than Russia!