TSAMTO, April 1. The Malian Air Force received two Mi-24P transport and combat helicopters from the presence of the Russian Armed Forces.
According to The Defense Post, this follows from a tweet with a photo published by the aBamako resource on March 31. The photo illustrates the official acceptance ceremony on the evening of March 30 by the Minister of Defense of Mali Sadio Camara of Mi-24P helicopters, 59N6-TE mobile radar and other equipment delivered by a Russian transport plane to the military base at Bamako Senu Airport.
The website of the Malian army reports that the new batch of weapons has become "a symbol of sincere and long-standing partnership with Moscow." The supplied equipment, as noted, is "necessary for the fight against terrorism and extremism."
Colonel S. Kamara stated that "today, with good reason, we can say that our army is now able to act independently, without asking anyone for help" (meaning air support provided, in particular, by France).
On the part of the CAMTO, we recall that Russia recently also completed the transfer of four new Mi-35M attack helicopters to the Malian Air Force.
For the first time, the sale of the Mi-35M in Mali became known after the statement made in September 2016 by the head of the Rosoboronexport delegation at the AAD (Africa Aerospace and Defense) exhibition by Yuri Demchenko about his intention to continue the supply of Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 helicopters to Angola, Mali, Nigeria and Sudan in 2017.
Flight tests of the first Mi-35M helicopter intended for the Malian Air Force began in Rostov-on-Don in April 2017. The first pair of helicopters (r.n. TZ-13H and TZ-14H) was delivered to Mali on September 21, 2017. On October 3, 2017, helicopters were demonstrated to Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita during his visit to the 101st Air Base.
In June 2019, photographs of tests at the Rostvertol enterprise in Rostov-on-Don of another Mi-35M intended for delivery to the Malian Air Force were published in social networks.
The solemn ceremony of the transfer of the last, fourth helicopter, took place on January 12, 2021 on the territory of the 101st Air Base of the Malian Air Force, adjacent to the Bamako Senu International Airport. The published photos showed a helicopter delivered with the registration number TZ-12H.
The Malian Air Force also operates several Mi-24D helicopters acquired from the Bulgarian Armed Forces, but the Mi-35M has great combat capabilities.
Over the past few years, the combat potential of the Malian Air Force has increased significantly due to the acquisition of aircraft and helicopters. In October 2017, in addition to the Mi-35M helicopters, the BTA C-295W aircraft, two Y-12E light multipurpose aircraft, and the Super Puma transport helicopter (the first of two ordered) were demonstrated to the President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. In July 2018, the Malian Air Force received four Super Tucano light attack aircraft from Brazilian Embraer. In April 2019, the European Union handed over a Cessna-208 "Caravan" aircraft configured for reconnaissance to the Malian Air Force. In November 2021, Russia handed over four Mi-171Sh military transport helicopters to the Armed Forces of Mali.
