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MOSCOW: A draft contract for the delivery of four Mi-35M 'Hind E' combat helicopters has been sent to Pakistan from Russia, a source in the Russian military and technical cooperation said on Wednesday, according to a report published on TASS news agency's website.
"Following the results of the talks held earlier on helicopters, which Pakistan would like to get from Russia, a draft contract on the delivery of four Mi-35M gunships has been sent to the Pakistani side. Pakistan is now studying the document," the source said.
According to Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, talks between Russia and Pakistan are under way regarding the delivery of helicopters. However, Rosoboronexport declined to reveal details regarding these consultations.
Last year, CEO of Russia's Rostec hi-tech corporation Sergey Chemezov said that Russia had lifted its embargo on delivery of military hardware and armaments to Pakistan and negotiations were being held on delivering helicopters.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also said that both sides have been negotiating the delivery of helicopters and that Pakistan currently has a number of Mi-17 helicopters delivered by the United States to assist in the fight against militancy.
The Mi-35M helicopter is an exceedingly modernised version of Mi-24 (Hind) combat helicopter with new onboard equipment and avionics. It also has a more powerful engine and a different tail rotor.
Also read: Deal with Russia for purchase of Mi-35 attack helicopters on the cards
Pakistan and Russia had signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening military-to-military relations in November last year. The deal had to be followed by another ‘technical cooperation agreement’ to pave the way for sale of defence equipment to Pakistan.
Besides helicopters, Pakistan also appears interested in other Russian hardware.
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Tuesday spent about 15 hours at an arms expo near Moscow that featured Russia’s cutting edge weapons and military equipment. He inspected not only the weapon systems on display but also saw their live demonstration.
“The army chief spent whole of June 16 witnessing dynamic defence expo. Highly impressive display of all types of arms, aircraft, and helis,” military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Bajwa, who accompanied the army chief on the Russia visit, tweeted.
Also read: Deal to sell MI-35 helicopters 'politically approved': Russian envoy
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Jun 18, 2015 01:25pm
We should not just buy equipment but also need transfer of technology too , better option than buying Russian equipment is to jointly produce these kinds of helicopters with Chinese assistance in Pakistan itself that way we can easily repair and maintain spares and not be at mercy of Russia like India is and can export these to other countries too.
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Jun 18, 2015 01:38pm
@Zak We should stop buy weapons and concentrate on social development and infrastructure. we already have enough to tackle terrorists.
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Jun 18, 2015 01:38pm
These attack helicopters are much needed for the operations against insurgents in tribal areas.
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Jun 18, 2015 01:44pm
We need to have good relations and cooperation with Russia. Why we don't have cooperation with Russia. I wonder why is our foreign policy is so unclear.
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Jun 18, 2015 01:45pm
Good job by our Army Chief. Let's diversify our defense requirements to reduce our dependence of USA.
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Jun 18, 2015 01:53pm
No country can produce all types of weaponry without support from partner countries. Not even United States (gets technical support from Britain, Europe etc). So a good decision by establishment to buy this from Russia. Its about time Pakistan and Russia build ties again and start working towards the betterment of each other.
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Jun 18, 2015 02:04pm
Pakistan Army must do whatever needed to become no 1 in the world. Until then efforts must continue. It very important for Pakistan to get Russian equipment I'm order to balance out its inventory which should be a strategic mix
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Jun 18, 2015 02:10pm
@Zak if you have time do get in touch with me. Thanks
Shahzad
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Jun 18, 2015 02:12pm
Good news. Acquisition of advance technology is very important. We should purchase defence hardware that can't wait and put rest of focus on building infrastructure, mainly highways, and fighting corruption. This will make economy strong and generate funds for education, healthcare, etc
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Jun 18, 2015 02:17pm
Good Job COAS. !
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Jun 18, 2015 02:21pm
Nice to see shift in foreign policy paradigm, this shows positive image building of Pakistan worldwide.
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Jun 18, 2015 02:25pm
@Sher Ajmal because Russia and India r like Pakistan and China.....
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Jun 18, 2015 02:27pm
Any (classified) strings attached with this recent purchase?
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Jun 18, 2015 02:33pm
the credit goes to our army chief of this deal. we should extend bilateral cooperation with russia
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Jun 18, 2015 02:38pm
Good job to the Army for developing new ties with Russia. 4 Heli's will lay the foundation for more equipment to come.
We should focus on Chinese equipment and ToT. But Mi-35 is one of its kind. A transport and attack helicopter.
100 Mi-35 would be enough as a transport helicopter for Pakistan Army, Navy and Air-force. Some should also be handed to police in tribal areas to provide cover to police during fighting with insurgency and evacuation of injured.
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Jun 18, 2015 02:39pm
the credit goes to our army chief of this deal. we should extend bilateral cooperation with russia
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Jun 18, 2015 02:40pm
@Sami What is all this social and other developments? Have you seen a paisa worth of spent on this sectors?
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Jun 18, 2015 02:46pm
These 'copters are effective only against unarmed villagers. Against a professional military they will all be shot down within fifteen minutes or less.
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Jun 18, 2015 02:48pm
Funny, only 4 Helicopters, why not more
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Jun 18, 2015 02:52pm
This will eliminate Polio, Poverty and all water related problems very quickly
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Jun 18, 2015 02:56pm
@Zak First think of food, shelter and water
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Jun 18, 2015 02:58pm
This is all well and good. However, unless we secure our borders and control budmashi within the country these choppers can only help you so much.
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Jun 18, 2015 03:16pm
@Sami .. To survive in today's changing world order & to counter internal & external threats an effective conventional arms inventory is most essential. Pakistan has a well defined external threat that is quite visible. Keep in mind it is not only terrorism that Pakistan has to handle.
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Jun 18, 2015 03:17pm
Russia is going to make that in India
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Jun 18, 2015 03:21pm
USA is a good friend but its roller coaster attitude towards Pakistan is draining confidence from the hearts of the common people as well as the peoples in authority. US has to take practical steps to reduce this deficit.
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Jun 18, 2015 03:48pm
Oh boy, this is good. The Mi-35 is an amazingly versatile, rugged and reliable helicopter, being a combination of attack and transport. Perfect for deployment against our Taliban problem. Hopefully, we can get more in the future.
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Jun 18, 2015 03:50pm
Only 4? Peanuts!
One for each Province?!
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Jun 18, 2015 03:56pm
@Sami Countries who don't invest in their military end up like Iraq, Syria, Libya. The only reason Pakistan hasn't be torn to shreds by terrorists or the Indians is because we have a strong military which makes that hard to do.
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Jun 18, 2015 04:07pm
Pakistan had recently obtained 26 used 26 Bell 412EP utility helicopters from the US forces withdrawing from Afghanistan, along with their maintenance and parts valued at $235 million. That makes a unit cost of about $9 million.
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Jun 18, 2015 04:13pm
@Sher Ajmal, There is no issue from Pakistan. Russia put an embargo on Pakistan due to her relation with India. It is economic, you as a seller would prefer to accommodate a client who buys 10 time more than another client. India doesn't want Pakistan to have access to these hardware since Pak will use against then so it is all big political game. I wish we can ignore military hardware and concentrate on Economic and education development.
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Jun 18, 2015 04:18pm
purchase helicopter is not new but building dam is good to hear and good news
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Jun 18, 2015 04:41pm
Why not buying from the Chinese, they have recently introduced attack helicopters, may be cheaper then these MI-35.
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Jun 18, 2015 04:49pm
@Sunil Russia want to show their displeasure against India , hence this deal, India is getting closer to US and even signed a deal for co-research and production of weapons with US and Russia does not like it one bit.
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Jun 18, 2015 04:53pm
Buying the helicopters from Russia is a part of the geopolitical game being played in the region.
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Jun 18, 2015 05:02pm
good move, hope the engines for JF-17 can now be directly imported from Russia and some sort of transfer of technology as well!
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Jun 18, 2015 05:05pm
Why only four, wasn't it reported to be a case of 15 helicopters of the kind?
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Jun 18, 2015 05:32pm
What is a big country like Pakistan going to do with only 4 copters?
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Jun 18, 2015 05:49pm
It is Russian way to express displeasure against India...!!
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Jun 18, 2015 07:18pm
@Sher Ajmal
you need to read history my friend, Russia was not our friend because they were arming the indians until recently, we also fought the Russian red army in Afghanistan, hence the troubled history between us.
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Jun 18, 2015 07:45pm
From Russia with Love..
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Jun 18, 2015 08:05pm
Pakistan must diversify it sources and should pay more emphasis on transfer of technology/joint production.
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Jun 18, 2015 08:16pm
Starting a new era of military cooperation with Russia is a good step towards Pak Russia relations, moreover it is also a message being conveyed to USA that we are not dependent on them entirely and other options are also open to us.
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Jun 18, 2015 08:28pm
Start making nuclear high speed locomotives.
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Jun 18, 2015 08:35pm
MI-35 is a flying bull, too heavy anti-gorilla warfare. Pakistan need better Russian weapons like KA-50 or KA-52 which is much more maneuverable and advanced than MI-35. Pakistan Air Force must take a look at SU-34 bombers for Naval Air Superiority.
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Jun 18, 2015 08:41pm
@Zak Now, why would Russia do that when they need to provide jobs for their own people?
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Jun 18, 2015 08:45pm
This helicopter is a veteran of Afghan war were it took stinger missiles and still flew, it's armoured , can hit back and can carry passengers , somthing the cobra gunship can't.
It's for VVIP transport in dangerous areas as there has been a helicopter down with international casualties so this is only four in number as that's what needed to fly VIP.
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Jun 18, 2015 09:23pm
Was Pakistan created to be a security state or welfare state? Will this deal help in welfare of poor people? My country India too is doing the same mistake as Pakistan is doing, and many other foolish countries too. The only companies who will profit form this is defence companies and will increase the GDP of arms exporters such as Russia, America and China and make them rich.
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Jun 18, 2015 11:46pm
They tried and tested helicopters but 4 is not enough, more like 40 are required at the very least!
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Jun 19, 2015 12:36am
We should be opting for the latest version of the Mi-35M, with the latest avionics.
Our Pak Army COAS Gen Raheel Sharif has a lot of energy and is always up and about, not glued to his office chair.
Gen. Raheel Sharif we are very proud of you, as our Army Chief.
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Jun 19, 2015 02:17am
Pakistan really needs to push hard at getting foreign investment into the country. It also needs to focus on educating its people which will benefit the country in the long run. Understandably before social and economic development can take place Pakistan needs to clean its house otherwise no matter how much money is poured into the country it will be wasted. So overall good move.
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Jun 19, 2015 02:37am
@Euro
Reverse Engineering
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Jun 19, 2015 03:50am
@Ahmed Raza;
'This will eliminate Polio, Poverty and all water related problems very quickly'
No, this will will not eliminate these problems, your posting comments will.
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Jun 19, 2015 05:57am
So happy to know Pakistan is getting more weapons and now from Russia.
It will help against terror and if India even tries to cross the border, Pakistan will be ready. Historically good defense equipment,F16s quality US weapons left from Afghanistan, Chinese top of the lines makes Pakistan very glad. Even if it is at the expense of education, development, research or help for the poor or creating manufacturing base.
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Jun 19, 2015 06:12am
This deal is of paramount symbolic importance. New alliances are taking shape to cater to the birth of the Asian Century.
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Jun 19, 2015 06:46am
This is great news. Making our defense stronger and more efficient is a need of this time considering the terrorist threats we are facing and daily threats from Indian politicians. We need to be prepared at all times. We have cunning enemies on both sides.
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Jun 19, 2015 09:27am
@manu These helicopters will help defend our civilians from terrorists. Is that not a worthy cause to spend money on?
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Jun 19, 2015 04:58pm
We shouldnot buy their rubbish old garbage.
we already have alot of russian bought old helicopter's incidents,and have lost many lives
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