The military plans to shop for a mixture of two hundred software and fight helicopters to satisfy its operational necessities, with the structures set to be produced withinside the country, military leader General Manoj Pande stated at Aero India 2023 on Tuesday. He stated the military desires round a hundred and ten mild software helicopters (LUH) and ninety to ninety five mild fight helicopters (LCH) as a way to be constructed via way of means of state-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Pande`s remarks got here days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country`s biggest helicopter production facility at Tumakuru in Karnataka, in what’s being visible as a shot withinside the arm for `Aatmanirbharta` withinside the defence production sector. The new HAL factory, unfold throughout 615 acres, will to start with produce the LUH accompanied via way of means of LCH and later the Indian multirole helicopters (IMRH).
LUH will update the military and the Indian Air Force`s growing older fleets of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. HAL expects the military and IAF to region blended orders for as a minimum 187 mild helicopters withinside the coming years. Currently, the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters are a vital lifeline for troops in high-altitude areas, such as the Siachen glacier.
The military has already ordered six confined collection manufacturing LUH and repeat orders will observe primarily based totally at the overall performance of the primary lot of helicopters, Pande stated. “We want it to be ready with a few greater capabilities. HAL is operating on it,” the military leader stated.
HAL has already been provided a agreement for 15 confined collection manufacturing LCH – 10 for IAF and 5 for the military. The aircraft maker expects observe-on orders because the military and IAF have a blended projected requirement of a hundred and sixty such helicopters. LCH has an indigenous content material of 45% via way of means of value, with a view to regularly boom to greater than 55% for the collection manufacturing version.
The LCH is the proper in shape for the military`s necessities withinside the mountains, Pande stated. He stated integrating the regionally advanced anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), Helina, with the LCH is a priority.
The military is likewise set to induct subsequent 12 months six Apache AH64E assault helicopters, he stated. The Boeing-synthetic helicopters fee upwards of ₹4,a hundred crore. Armed with fire-and-neglect about Hellfire missiles, the Apache can music as much as 128 objectives a minute and prioritise threats. The missiles equip the gunships with heavy anti-armour capabilities.
IMRH, with a view to additionally be synthetic at Tumakuru factory, is predicted to compete with Russian Mi-17 choppers in each Indian and overseas markets. HAL says the platform may want to have a massive marketplace as almost forty air forces internationally function Mi-17 kind helicopters. The Mi-17 is the mainstay of the IAF`s delivery fleet.
