Russia To Deliver Combat Helicopters To Czech Republic

In the near future, Russia will deliver six combat helicopters Mi-35 to the Czech Republic to repay a part of its debt to this country, reported Czech defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik. The agreement on the delivery of new Russian helicopters and the modernization of those adopted by the Czech arms was signed during the recent visit of Russian premier Mikhail Kasyanov to Prague. Most local experts favor the acquisition of Russian helicopters, because the Czech Air Forces is experiencing a shortage of the machines of this class. Under the treaty on conventional force reductions in Europe, Czech Republic may have up to 50 machines of this class. Today, the Czech army has only 20 Mi-24 helicopter-gunships. The Mi-35 is an updated version of this Russian helicopter-gunship. It has a number of advantages over western analogs. In particular, the Mi-35 is equipped with the French electronics and avionics system meeting NATO standards.