Military aviation firm ATE sets up JV in Azerbaijan
South African military aviation firm Advanced Technologies & Engineering (ATE) has established a joint venture in Azerbaijan. The JV, Aztechengineering Co., which was co-founded by local company Azairtechservice, was registered by the government on October 24.
Earlier, ATE, along with Ukraine’s Aviakon company, joined a program on modernizing military helicopters of Azerbaijan’s air force and was involved in upgrading Mi-24 helicopters. The program allowed to bring Mi-24G (Geje, or Night) helicopters into full compliance with NATO standards.
As a result of the modernization, Mi-24 helicopters’ navigation devices, such as GPS and radio navigation, control and weaponry systems were updated and armor improved. The weight of the helicopters was reduced by about 2 tons to increase their maneuvering capacities and combat readiness. The most remarkable feature introduced was that the helicopters were supplied with Barrier anti-tank missile launchers.
Established in 1984, ATE is implementing projects in South Africa, Spain and Algeria.