A recent article published by the Financial Times reopened the controversy surrounding the Argentine Air Force’s Mil Mi-171E helicopters, stating that the Argentine government had donated the Russian-origin aircraft to Ukraine. As locally known, the report from the British media, which was quickly echoed by various international and Ukrainian outlets, is incorrect.
According to the inquiries conducted by Zona Militar, the Ministry of Defense tersely confirmed what was already known: that the information reported by the Financial Times is inaccurate, without providing further details. The Argentine Air Force (FAA) stated that no decision has been made yet, and it will be made when the relevant authorities deem it appropriate.
The discussion about the Mi-171E helicopters of the Argentine Air Force originated from a U.S. initiative to negotiate with countries in the region the transfer of Soviet or Russian-origin equipment to Ukraine. The project (speculated by Zona Militar in 2022) promoted by the Southern Command was not well received by several governments, with Brazil and Colombia at the forefront. Ecuador was one of the few countries that publicly expressed its intention to proceed with the negotiations, plans that were thwarted after Moscow threatened to cut banana imports, one of Ecuador’s main resources.
In Argentina’s case, the possibility of participating in the plan proposed by Washington was not only promptly vetoed at a political level but also the only material potentially available for transfer were the two Mi-171E helicopters, aircraft that had been out of service for years, awaiting inspection and repair.
It is worth noting that the Argentine Air Force was forced to cancel a contract signed with the company Kosmo Technopromexport for the maintenance and repair of the Mi-171E H-94. The FAA and the Russian company had signed an agreement in 2021 for the major repair service of the H-94, an aircraft that, along with the H-95, was out of service after reaching the expiration of its flight hours and inspections.
According to information published by Zona Militar, the mentioned contract involved a disbursement of €4,103,366.30 euros, of which €2,410,000 corresponded to repair services, €403,366.30 euros for goods to be supplied, and €1,290,000 euros for the commission of Russian specialists.
“Due to the fact that the Banco de la Nación Argentina only transferred foreign currency in dollars, the amount sent to the Logistics Mission in Europe was USD 5,373,399.35, funds that remained in their custody due to the sanctions imposed on Russia, in addition to the fact that no purchase order was generated, nor were there any unpaid invoices in favor of Kosmo Technopromexport…” we detailed in an article published in October 2023.
Under these conditions that prevented progress with the contract, the Air Force chose to cancel the agreement with the Russian company, a decision made due to the need to dispose of the over USD 5 million dollars that were frozen in the Logistics Mission in Europe to be transferred to the Aeronautical Attaché in the U.S.
Sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, as well as the Ukraine War initiated by the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, ultimately closed the possibilities for the Argentine Air Force to recover its Mi-171E with direct assistance from the Russian aerospace industry.
The FAA would continue to evaluate options to recover the capabilities offered by the Mi-171E, but at the moment, there has been no official announcement of any solution that would allow the situation of the two helicopters to be reversed in the medium term.
With the change of government, and the clear position of the new administration regarding the U.S. and Ukraine, the future of the Mi-171E would be engulfed in speculation, which was echoed by national media, without an official definition on the matter.
For now, both helicopters await from their rest in El Palomar and Área Material Quilmes a solution that would allow them to return to service, whether with the Argentine Air Force or with a new user.
Illustrative cover image. Credits: Argentine Air Force
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