Oboronprom, part of State Corporation Rostec, and Denel Aviation  signed an agreement to increase the range of services offered by the centre opened in South Africa earlier this year to provide maintenance and upgrade of Mi-8/17 helicopters. The agreement was signed at the Paris Air Show – Le Bourget 2013. The parties have agreed to significantly expand the functionality of the service centre, which opened in March 2013 at Denel Aviation’s facilities in Johannesburg. It is planned that the centre will not only provide the comprehensive maintenance services offered at its launch, but also complete overhaul and upgrade of both commercial and military helicopters of the Mi-8/17 series.

“Oboronprom’s partnership with Denel Aviation in helicopter servicing is beneficial to both sides – we are giving our colleagues unique competencies to repair and provide technical maintenance of Russian helicopters, and in return we will be able to broaden our commercial opportunities in the fast-growing African aviation market” - said Dmitry Lelikov, CEO of Oboronprom.