Now the ‘Mahabali’ of the Indian Air Force will be refitted in India itself, Mi-26 helicopters will fly after many years

New Delhi: The country’s Air Force will again get the help of Mi-26 helicopters. The Mi-26 helicopters that have been grounded for years are being made capable of flying again. The Mi-26 helicopter has been a mighty helicopter of its time. The army used it mainly to transport troops and equipment. But due to being outdated, these helicopters have been grounded for years. The government and the army have decided that now the grounded Mi-26 helicopters will be repaired on a large scale. The repair work will be carried out at Chandigarh’s No. 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) and Russian engineers will help in this. Earlier it was decided that these helicopters would be sent to Russia for maintenance, but there was so much delay in the paperwork that the helicopters were retired from the technical point of view. Due to this, they had to be grounded.

Now the Air Force has decided to call Russian engineers to India to repair the helicopters. The equipment installed in the helicopters belongs to a Russian company and engineers of the same company have been called to India. The helicopters are being dismantled. The engineers will examine each and every part and decide which parts need to be reinstalled and which need to be replaced. Once the work is complete, the helicopters will be usable for a decade.

It is expected that after the rejuvenation, the trial of the first helicopter will be possible by mid-2025. If everything goes well in the trial, the helicopters will start being handed over to the Air Force from early 2026. Once fully operational, the Air Force will have no problem in sending heavy equipment or a group of soldiers to remote and extremely difficult areas.

The return of Mahabali to the Air Force will be very important, especially in view of the ongoing standoff with China since 2020. For the last four years, the armies of India and China have been standing face to face on the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Rapid efforts are being made to ensure that the Indian Army does not face any shortage of supplies and equipment. Not only are military equipment being procured for the three forces – land, water and air, but many excellent manufacturing is also taking place in the country. Along with new equipment, the army is also renovating old equipment. By repairing the Mi-26 helicopters, India will be able to take important steps towards self-reliance in the field of aircraft maintenance and repair.