The Indian airforce is planning to place an order worth $1.1bn for another 48 new Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, the Russian news RIA Novosti reported yesterday, in a move that increases the co-dependency between the two countries’ aerospace and defence industries. India has already bought 121 Mi-17V-5 helicopters over the past five years, and now has over 300 Russian Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters in service. India accounted for some 40% of all Russian arms exports over the past 5 years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute .
Source: The Moscow Times