Slovak's LOTN Repairs Afghan Air Force Mi-17V-5 Helicopter

Slovakia’s LOTN company has conducted overhaul and repair works of Afghan Air Force’s Mi-17V-5 helicopter, nearly a year after Russian manufacturers reportedly accused the Slovak company of “illegally” conducting repair works on their rotorcraft.

“LOTN has completed complex overhaul and heavy repair works of Afghan Mi-17V-5 helicopter which had suffered major combat damage,” the company said in a statement today.

Around the same time last year, Sputnik reported that Russian Helicopters (Mi-17V-5 designer) and Kazan Helicopter Plant (Mi-17V-5 manufacturer) accused LOTN of undertaking the work without their participation and supervision.

“In connection with the publication of information about the overhaul of the second Afghan Air Force Mi-17V-5 helicopter by the Slovak company LOTN, the Russian Helicopters, represented by the developer (the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant) and the manufacturer (the Kazan Helicopter Plant), notifies about the illegitimacy of the work done," the company told Sputnik.

“The updated overhaul and design documentation for the Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopter, as well as spare parts and group kits for the overhaul were not supplied to the LOTN by us. Russian Helicopters holding disclaims all liability for the further safe operation of this helicopter and has good reasons to refuse to provide service support for this helicopter's operation," the company stressed.

Meanwhile, the Trencin-based aircraft repair company LOTN has said that it performed the work on the basis of a 2016 contract signed with the NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency).

The three-month repair included changing three load-bearing frames of the helicopter in accordance with the Design Authority and Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant’s rulebook. Following subsequent overhaul, the Mi-17V-5 was tested and delivered to Afghanistan.