Explained: The helicopter CDS General Bipin Rawat was in

What is the News?

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others died after the Mi-17V5 helicopter crashed in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

What is a Mi-17V5 helicopter?

Mi-17V5 is a Russian-made helicopter which is produced by Kazan Helicopters.

It was inducted into the Indian Air Force on 17 February 2012.

Purpose: The Helicopter can carry equipment inside the cargo cabin or an external sling, drop tactical air assault teams and carry the wounded.

Speed: The helicopter can achieve a maximum speed of 250 km per hour.

Weight: The helicopter has a maximum takeoff weight of 13,000 kg. It can transport either 36 armed soldiers internally or 4,500 kg of load on a sling.

Features: It has a digital flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder onboard to monitor flight parameters and cockpit conversations respectively. The helicopter also has the capability to land on unprepared sites at night and in adverse weather conditions. 

Apart from India, this helicopter is also used by the air forces of nearly 60 countries, including Russia and Iraq, and is also part of the erstwhile Afghan Air Force.

According to the latest data, the Indian Air Force(IAF) currently has over 200 of these helicopters in service.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: The helicopter CDS General Bipin Rawat was in” published in Indian Express on 9th December 2021.