The Bolivian Army remained dissatisfied with Chinese Harbin H425 multirole helicopters. Bolivian Army bought six Harbin H425 helicopters in 2014 and now have completed two years of operations in Bolivian territory with mixed success.
The Government of Bolivia has invested $ 104 million in the purchase of rotary wing aircraft of the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), and a lot of spare parts, accessories, simulator and pilot training and technicians.
A usage report of the Bolivian Air Force denounced several problems during the commissioning of the helicopters. In service for two years, the results of Z-9 are particularly mixed. That was reported by blog.24heures.ch
According to the report, training on the equipment was not sufficient for the pilots but also for the maintenance teams. Moreover, maintenance problems appeared quickly. Maintenance teams face many repetitions to failure due to defective parts.
The H425 is a newly developed version of the Harbin Z-9 which itself is the Chinese version of the EADS /Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin/Panther helicopter. The delivery of the H425 would be the first rotary wing assets to the Bolivian Armed Forces.
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