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Six helicopters Mi-8MTV-5 were solemnly handed over to the 50th air base of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Command.

The solemn ceremony took place in Machulishchi, Minsk District on 28 November. It was the first batch of helicopters delivered as part of the contract on acquiring 12 military helicopters Mi-8MTV-5 from the Russian holding company Russian Helicopters. The contract was signed during the international defense technology expo Army 2015 in Russia.

The next batch of six helicopters is supposed to be delivered in 2017.

The Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter model is fitted with modern piloting, navigation, radio communication, and targeting solutions. The model is designed to carry out a number of tasks, including combat and transport operations. The body has been redesigned to increase the cargo load. The number of seats has been increased by a third. Now a Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter can land up to 35 paratroopers or transport up to 12 injured, who are accompanied by medics.

The helicopter has been fitted with a direct deployment system that allows four paratroopers to rope down to the ground at the same time. The piloting equipment has been fitted with night vision solutions. The helicopter is capable of carrying out missions in day and night time at low altitudes in complicated weather conditions in addition to being able to land and lift off in greenfield conditions.

During the handover ceremony three helicopter crews demonstrated how paratroopers can be deployed in complicated weather conditions.

The Mi-8 helicopter has been in production for decades and has become recognized as one of the world's best helicopters in its category. So far over 12,000 helicopters have been made and sold to over 100 countries.

The second batch of Mi-8 helicopters will be delivered to Belarus in late May – early June 2017, learned from Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov during the ceremony held on 28 November to hand over six Mi-8MTV-5 combat and transport helicopters to the 50th air base of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Command.

The Belarusian Defense Minister said he believes that the new helicopters will be mastered by the personnel as soon as possible. “By late May — early June we are going to get another six helicopters and will use a full-fledged squadron,” said Andrei Ravkov.

The contract on acquiring 12 military helicopters Mi-8MTV-5 from the holding company Russian Helicopters was signed during the international defense technology expo Army 2015 in Russia.

Director General of the Russian company Alexander Mikheyev noted that the handover of the first batch of helicopters made by the Kazan helicopter company to the Belarusian air base was an important event for the Russian helicopter industry. “These helicopters are some of the world's best. They have earned a good reputation in all the hot spots and special operations. We will honor our contractual commitments on time and in a quality manner. We are going to provide maintenance support to these helicopters through their lifecycle as part of the existing contracts,” he stated.

According to the source, the contract was a high-priority one for the Russian company. “We fulfilled all the requirements of the Belarusian side in full. The options were chosen to match requirements of the Belarusian Air Force and bearing in mind what kind of missions the helicopters will carry out later on. We intended to produce a helicopter capable of flying in any weather in day and night conditions and carrying out versatile missions,” said Alexander Mikheyev.

After the handover ceremony Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian army, First Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Belokonev talked to reporters. He pointed out that the modernization of the Belarusian army proceeds in accordance with the schedule. “We have plans for all the stages. Getting the rather unique helicopters [Mi-8MTV-5] is one of the stages. It is a remarkable machine that has been seen in all the hot spots of the planet. It is a very effective fire support instrument and a good transport vehicle,” he said.

The Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter model is fitted with modern piloting, navigation, radio communication, and targeting solutions. The model is designed to carry out a number of tasks, including combat and transport operations. The body has been redesigned to increase the cargo load. The number of seats has been increased by a third. Now a Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter can land up to 35 paratroopers or transport up to 12 injured, who are accompanied by medics.

The helicopter has been fitted with a direct deployment system that allows four paratroopers to rope down to the ground at the same time. The piloting equipment has been fitted with night vision solutions. The helicopter is capable of carrying out missions in day and night time at low altitudes in complicated weather conditions in addition to being able to land and lift off in greenfield conditions.

The Mi-8 helicopter has been in production for decades and has become recognized as one of the world's best helicopters in its category. So far over 12,000 helicopters have been made and sold to over 100 countries.

Major General Oleg Polguyev, Commander of the contingent of Russia at the maneuvers, has informed today that Russian, Belarusian and Serbian special forces soldiers defeated a group of imaginary terrorists and freed hostages during the “Slavic Brotherhood 2016” maneuvers.

International tactical maneuvers “Slavic Brotherhood 2016” have been held from the 2nd until the 15th of November near Belgrade. Subunits of the Armed Forces of Russia, Belarus and Serbia have been participating in them.

“The main forces air dropped during the first stage of the maneuvers near Kovin aerodrome have moved forward to the area of Oresac firing range where they blocked a large terrorist group holding hostages. Russian, Belarusian and Serbian special forces groups having landed from Mi-8 helicopters have assaulted a building and freed hostages directly on the firing range”, Mr. Polguyev said.

“After the evacuation of the hostages, the military of the three countries have successfully accomplished the task of destruction of a camp of illegal armed groups with the fire support of Serbian infantry combat vehicles”, the General added.

Two new modern helicopters Mi-8MTB5-1 were demonstrated to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in the Obuz-Lesnovsky exercise area on 19 October when the head of state took part in the revision of professional skills and competence of Belarusian army officer.

A short while ago the Belarusian army received six modern Mi-8 helicopters of this modification from the helicopter factory based in Kazan, Russia. The Belarusian army is expected to get another six helicopters of this kind.

One of the helicopters demonstrated to the Belarus President is designed for search and rescue operations while the other one is meant for combat missions and transportation.

Mi-8 helicopters have been in use for decades and have earned respect all over the world. So far over 12,000 helicopters have been made and sold to over 100 countries.

Within the month Belarusian and Russian airborne commandoes are to  jointly carry out two full-scale drills.

The drills are to host  more than 1 200 military personnel and to feature around 100 pieces of military and special equipment. The event is to part in Belarus.  During the drills airborne commandoes of the two countries shall master missions on annihilation of illegal armed formations and to drill actions on sheltering Union State border.

" Joint drills of the Belarusian and Russian airborne commandos has increased recently.  In 2015  Russian Airborne troops jointly with special operation forces of the Armed Force  of Belarus carried out 26 combat training activities, and in this year – 38 already ", - states the  Information and Mass Communication Department of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

One of the joint drills is to be carried out within the period from October 7^th till October 20^th.