July 8,
2008: The Czech Republic, which has
agreed to send five badly needed transport helicopters to serve with NATO
troops in Afghanistan, found themselves with a pilot mutiny on their hands. The
seventy Czech Air Force helicopter pilots are angry because the Mi-171s may not
get needed upgrades to their electronics (NATO grade stuff) and protection
(lightweight armor to protect from ground fire). Four of the pilots refused to
sign up for possible duty abroad. Three of those four pilots had already served
in the Balkans, and are mainly concerned, like all the other pilots, with the
ability of their relatively new Mi-171 helicopters to handle the severe
conditions they know they will encounter in the deserts and mountains of
Afghanistan.
The Czechs
have 16 Mi-171s, a new model, which was introduced ten years ago. The Czech's
received theirs two years ago, and have been donating their older models
(Mi-17s) to Afghanistan (six Mi-17s and six gunship versions, the Mi-24).
The Mi-171
helicopter is nicknamed "The Terminator. " It is based on the 1975
Mi-17 design, and is the export version of similar Mi-8, but configured as a
gunship and transport. Weighing about 12 tons, and carrying a four ton load,
the Mi-171 has a range of 590 kilometers at a cruising speed of 250 kilometers
per hour. There is a crew of three, and as many passengers as can be squeezed in
(about 40 people, but usually just 20 or so.) A sling underneath can also carry
up to four tons. The crew areas are protected (against bullets and shell
fragments) by armor. The Terminator normally carries machine-gun, rockets and
bombs, and is also wired for using eight 9M114 (Spiral) air to surface
missiles, or air-to-air missiles. There is a targeting radar up front. Avionics
are often Western, which makes it an easier sell to foreign nations. This is
what the Czech pilots want on their helicopters, and the government is spending
about seven million to upgrade each of the Mi-171s. Russia has already exported
several hundred have been. The helicopter is rugged, inexpensive ($4-5 million
each for the bare bones model.)
