New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI): At a time when the defence forces are working towards replacing their fleet of Cheetah Chetak choppers, the Indian Army and the Air Force would be placing orders for around 200 indigenous Light Utility Helicopters, which are being developed by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
The forces have a requirement of around 400 light choppers, of which 200 Light Multirole Helicopters were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council, after which the Indian Army will issue a tender in which Indian firms, including Tata and Adani, would be tying up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers to build the choppers in the country.
The Army and the Air Force would be placing orders for around 200 of the indigenous Light Utility Helicopters and this would be a big boost for the Indian military as well as the local medium and small sale industry as it is expected to further strengthen the ecosystem for choppers, defence officials said.
The public sector firm has already built 12 LUH choppers and orders for another 187 are in the pipeline which will take the number to 199 and the worth of the project is expected to be worth over Rs 20,000 crore, they said.
The LUH has been designed and developed by the HAL as a replacement for Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, which are being operated by Indian Armed Forces. The LUH is a new generation chopper in the 3-Ton class with features like Glass cockpit with Multi-Function Displays (MFD) and powered by single Turbo Shaft engine with sufficient power margin to cater to demanding high altitude missions. LUH will meet the emerging needs in this class of helicopters in the coming decades.
The helicopter is being developed to have a capability of flying at 220 Kmph; a service ceiling of 6.5 Km and a range of 350 Km with a 500 kg payload.
It is now expected that the Army and Air Force will have three different types of light coppers which will include 50 per cent from the private sector firms while the remaining choppers will come from the public sector firms.
The requirement for the 400 choppers in the two services is to replace their vintage fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, and in that direction, the Defence Ministry on Monday approved a Rs 20,000 crore proposal to buy 200 light multirole helicopters for the Indian Army and Air Force.
As per the proposal, the 200 helicopters to be acquired by the two forces would be built in India with Indian companies in the lead.
The proposal for the 200 LMRH was cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council in its meeting today. The contract is expected to be split between the L1 and L2 in the programme, defence officials said.
Defence sources said major players in the project would be Tata, along with its partner Airbus, while Adani Group would be partnering with Leonardo of Italy. Bell Helicopters of the US is also expected to offer its chopper for the procurement.
Around 400 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters are scheduled to be retired in the upcoming years.
India had chosen the Russian Ka-226 in 2014 as the replacement for the Cheetah Chetak fleet of choppers, but the programme could not move forward.
The tenders issued earlier also had to be scrapped due to one reason or the other.
The light choppers are essential for the Indian defence forces as they are used extensively for reconnaissance and surveillance roles along all the frontiers from Siachen in the North to Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast and other areas.
The Indian Navy is also buying light maritime choppers for search and rescue and other operations. (ANI)
Indian Army, IAF to place orders for around 200 LUH choppers from HAL
