Mexican Air Force modernising and expanding Mi-17 fleet

From mid-June to early July at least two Antonov An-124-100 transports ferried at least nine Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Mexicana - FAM) Mi-17 Hip helicopters to a Russian Helicopters facility, where they will go through a comprehensive modernisation programme with re-deliveries scheduled to begin in 2015.
As of May 2014, the FAM announced it operated 19 Mi-17s along with two Mi-8Ts. It's understood that all surviving Mi-17s are to undergo the modernisation process.
Mexico originally procured 24 Mi-17 Hip-H transport helicopters in two batches of 12 each in 1996 and 1998 - with deliveries ending in 1999 - as well as 12 secondhand Mi-8T Hip-C cargo versions that have been deactivated and replaced with a similar number of Airbus Helicopter EC725s.
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