08 December 2021
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Bipin Rawat along with his wife Mrs. Madhulika Rawat, and 11 others have died in a chopper crash in Tamilnadu this afternoon.
But, how come they have died? How can such an advanced helicopter crash all of a sudden? Is there something fishy?
To answer all these questions, let's know about this helicopter first -
• This was a highly advanced Russian-made Mi-17 V5 chopper.
• It is a military transport helicopter.
• It is produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters.
• It is one of the world’s most advanced transport helicopters.
• It can also be deployed in troop and arms transport, fire support, convoy escort, patrol, and search-and-rescue (SAR) missions.
• It can fly in tropical and maritime climates, as well as desert conditions.
• The helicopter has a maximum takeoff weight of 13,000kg. It can transport either 36 armed soldiers internally or 4,500kg of load on a sling.
• Mi-17V-5 is armed with Shturm-V missiles, S-8 rockets, a 23mm machine gun, PKT machine guns, and AKM sub-machine guns. It features eight firing posts for aiming the weapons.
• The Mi-17V-5 has a maximum speed of 250km/h, and a standard range of 580km, which can be extended to 1,065km when fitted with two auxiliary fuel tanks. It can fly at a maximum altitude of 6,000m.
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