Chairman of the Iran Aviation Industry Organization Amir Karim Bani Tarafi announced that Tehran and Moscow are due to sign a contract for the joint designing and production of helicopters.
“We are working with the Russians on joint designing and production of helicopters; we have not yet started the phase of implementation for the joint designing, but the grounds have been paved and its contract is being finalized and will be ink soon,” Bani Tafari told Fars News Agency (FNA).
In the meantime, he said that Iran has finalized and inked a contract with Russia’s helicopter union as the two countries are cooperating in area of joint overhaul of aircraft.
In relevant remarks in April, Iranian Army Airborne Commander General Yousef Qorbani announced that the country’s experts are preparing the home-made multi-purpose helicopter, ‘Saba 248’ (photo), for combat missions.
“The helicopter will soon become ready for combat missions by Airborne experts and it will be used for training and operation,” General Qorbani told FNA.
He also underlined Iran’s capability to manufacture helicopters for different missions, and said Iran neither needs nor wants to purchase helicopters from other countries.
Iran unveiled its Saba 248 helicopter in a ceremony in March 2017.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and Vice-President for Scientific and Technological Affairs Sorena Sattari participated in the ceremony.
“The national helicopter Saba 248 is a multi-purpose chopper designed in the light and mid-weight classes and it has two engines and four rotors and has the capacity to carry 8 crews,” General Dehqan said, addressing the ceremony.
He added that Saba 248 can be used for carrying cargos and passengers, relief and rescue, reconnaissance and offshore missions, taking images and working as an air ambulance and air taxi.
According to the Defense Minister, Saba 248 enjoys state-of-the-art technology in navigation systems and has an acceptable performance in case one of its engines malfunctions.
He added that the helicopter is also ready to be exported to the international markets, especially Muslim states, for military and civilian purposes.
