MOSCOW, March 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The fleet of Russian-made helicopters in Latin American countries has increased by 6% over the past three years, says director-general of Russian Helicopters Alexander Mikheyev.

The company was showcasing its multipurpose machines Mi-171A2, Ka-32A11VS and Mi-35M at FIDAE 2014 that opened in Chile’s Santiago on March 24 and would last until March 30.

“Russian Helicopters register a steadily growing demand for its products on the Latin American market,” Mikheyev said. “The regional fleet of Russian-made machines is one of the largest in the world and continues to grow from 385 helicopters in 2011 to 409 in 2014.”

The most popular helicopter used in Latin America is Mi-8/17, which advanced-technology version, Mi-171A2, is shown at the ongoing exhibition. The number of commercial and military helicopters of this type exceeds 300 in the region. Latin America widely uses military machines, Mi-17B-5 and Mi-171Sh, and civil models, including the modification of Mi-171A1.

Ka-32 type helicopters are successfully used in the fight against natural and technogenic fires, construction and assembly operations and transportation of external loads in Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Chile. The Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 are also on demand in Latin America - Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador.

The air forces of Peru and Mexico also have military transport helicopters Mi-26 in their fleet.

Russian Helicopters is a subsidiary of the aerospace holding Oboronprom, a member of Russian state-run corporation Rostec. It is one of the world’s leading helicopter makers and Russia’s only helicopter design and production holding.