Uzbekistan enters into contract with Russia to purchase ten Mi-35M helicopters

In 2018, Uzbekistan made a contract with Russia to buy ten Mi-35M helicopters, Kommersant.ru reports. Soon, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of the commission on military-technical cooperation (MTC), at which he will announce the official results of arms exports for 2018.

The results exceeded expectations: Russia delivered $15 billion worth weapons and military equipment abroad. New contracts worth over $20 billion have been signed, which is one of the biggest indicators.

Mi-35M helicopters will also be bought by neighboring Kazakhstan – in 2018 Astana (now Nur-Sultan) signed agreements with Moscow on the purchase of eight additional Su-30SM fighters, four Mi-35M helicopters and the anti-aircraft missile system division “Buk-M2E”.

According to data of the Central Bank, in 2018 Uzbekistan spent on the purchase of aircrafts $371 million, guns and weapons – $0.7 million. It is not yet clear whether the purchase of Mi-35M helicopters is included here or not. In 2017, it became known that Russia would deliver 12 Mi-35 helicopters to Uzbekistan.

Mi-24VM (Mi-35M, AH-2 Sabre) – the Russian transport-combat helicopter round-the-clock use is designed for destruction of armored vehicles and equipment, landing and fire support units of the ground forces, evacuation of the wounded, as well as for transportation of goods in the cabin or on an external suspension.