barbos
Contributor
Who said it was poorly maintained? The fact that they still fly 40 years old helicopter suggests that it's well maintained and reliable, why change something that works? Especially considering that Iran-Russia relations only recently normalized and there is not much russian hardware in Iran anyway. Investing in a few aircrafts and training few pilots/technicians is not smart.That they felt that a poorly maintained and elderly US machine was a better option than a brand new Russian one
Having said that, Mi-8 and its derivatives are extremely reliable machines.