India, Russia Freeze Technical Configuration of Ka-226T Helicopter

Contractual negotiations for the Ka-226T light helicopters to be made jointly by India and Russia will commence soon following the freezing of the technical configuration.

‘Approval of helicopter configuration to be delivered and assembled in India means that the technical aspects of the project have been finalized. We and out Indian partners shall commence the preparation of contractual documents in the coming future,” Andrey Boginsky, Director General, Russian Helicopters said on the sidelines of DefExpo 2018 Wednesday.

A facility to manufacture KA-226T helicopters in India by a recently formed company, Indo Russian Helicopter Pvt. Ltd. (IRHL) will be located at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)’s proposed helicopter plant in Tumakuru near Bangalore.

The IRHL has been incorporated as Joint Venture cum subsidiary in May 2017 between HAL, Russian Helicopters and Rosoboronexport, with the objective to manufacture Ka-226T helicopters in India.

IRHL is expected to fulfill a requirement for over 200 utility helicopters for the Indian armed forces. Besides, under the terms of an Indo-Russian agreement, the KA-226T helicopters manufactured in India would also be exported to third countries.