Chinese May Ambush IAF Through Back Door
At a time of eye ball to eye ball confrontation on the LAC between India- China
in eastern Ladakh, both IAF and PLAAF are also on full readiness. Since PLAAF is in no position to take on the IAF face to face, they may cleverly spring an ambush. A Chinese majority owned company MOTOR SICH is all set to get a contract to overhaul engines of Indian Air Force’s frontline Mi- 17 V5 helicopters.
The Ministry of Defence of India, is reported to have pronounced Motor Sich as the lowest bidder or L1 for the contract. The comes when India has already banned Chinese apps and tightened norms for Chinese investment into India on security grounds. So are people manning the MoD so dumb and stupid or it has been deliberately by some fifth columnist.
Ukrainian aerospace company Motor Sich is one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of helicopter and airplane engines. However, a Chinese attempted to buy a majority stake in Motor Sich to get hold of its advanced military technology, which was opposed by the US and Ukraine.
According to a Reuters story in August this year, Chinese Investors through Skyrizon hold around 80 percent of Motor Sich through several foreign companies.
Sources said the Indian defence ministry is set to award a contract for overhauling of VK-2500-3 engines of IAF’s Mi-17V5 helicopters to Motor Sich.
The Russian helicopters, the original suppliers of the V5 helicopters to India, is said to have written to both the MoD and the IAF on September 28, 2020 that they are represented only through their original equipment manufacturer JSC UEC- Klimov for all overhauling and supply of parts of the said helicopters.
The letter also informed the Ministry and the Indian Air Force that the Russian federation had withdrawn its licenses from Motor Sich in 2018 for the overhauling of the VK-2500 engines. Now the smart fellows manning the Ministry of Defence, having all the authority, says that it was kept in dark about this development. So the UPSC toppers do not know that from which country MI17 V helicopters were purchased originally or it was just a ploy to extract some foreign tours.
It is reported that a delegation of Russians was in New Delhi to ensure the overhauling through JSC UEC Klimov and to invite MoD representative to their St Petersburg facilities to satisfy them about the OEM status, cancellation of license to Motor Sich and the capability for the overhauling of VK-2500 engines.
