Speaking to reporters, Commander of the Army's Airborne Base in Kermanshah Colonel Yusef Qorbani said a number of army choppers had gone out of operation in the last few years due to the western sanctions imposed on the country's economy, specially the air industries, but Iran has succeeded in repairing a number of them in recent months.
"During the recent months we have been able to overhaul 6 of them (choppers) or manufacture parts for them and these choppers have now been brought back into airborne operation," Qorbani said, adding that the choppers include Cobra and JetRanger.
Earlier this month, Iranian Army Airborne Commander General Hoshang Yavari said the technical unit of the airborne division repaired three US choppers and brought them back into operation, stressing that the country will continue repairing and overhauling more US-made choppers in future.
Addressing a ceremony in the Southeastern province of Kerman to mark the repaired US choppers' joining the Iranian airborne fleet, Yavari said that his forces plan to repair a number of downed choppers each year.
He said the Iranian Army's Airborne Division was run and supervised by American military attaches prior to the revolution and all repair and maintenance jobs were carried out at their orders and under their supervision.
"When Americans were leaving Iran, they said that they would definitely return to the country because they imagined that Iran wouldn't be able to make use of these choppers," the General continued.
He said the technical unit of the Army airborne division in Kerman is now repairing two other downed US choppers, adding that the two will soon join the Army Airborne's operational unit in the near future.
