Azernews.Az

Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company, known as Panha, has developed three new helicopter models.

Mohammad-Ali Ahmadabadi, the managing director of Panha, said a model for training purposes, a model for rescue operations, and a model for military purposes have been developed, Iran's Fars news agency reported.

In particular, speaking about the military model, Ahmadabadi noted that it can carry 14 people, evade radars and can be enhanced with weapons.

Head of Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, Manouchehr Manteghi, said on May 12 that Iran is working on building two new 8 and 14-seat home-made helicopters.

Manteghi said that the helicopters have already been designed and the project will be completed by March 2015.

In 2012 Iran presented two domestically made helicopters dubbed "Panha 1" and "Panha 2."

Panha 1 is a medium-class helicopter model, capable of carrying 14 people, and is suitable for both military and non-military use.

Panha 2 model is smaller, a light-weight class model, capable of carrying 8 passengers.

Iran's media says the country's 40-year-old aviation industry has made great achievements in designing aircraft and overhauling the existing aviation fleet. Overhauling helicopters has put Iran among a handful of countries including the US, Britain, France, Russia and China which master the technology in the world.