Bangladesh Air Force has signed a contract with Russian state-owned export firm Rosoboronexport on 12 June for the acquisition of five Mi-171Sh military transport helicopters. Mi-171Sh was designed to carry out missions such as airlifting of assault forces, cargo transportation, fire support, medical evacuation and combat search and rescue (CSAR) operations. powered by two Klimov TV3-117VM turboshaft engines, the helicopters have a payload capacity of 4 thousand kgs, internally or externally.

More than 120 helicopters have been delivered so far to customers in the Middle East, south-east Asia, Africa and eastern Europe.