The Narendra Modi administration authorized the purchase of 15 indigenous Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) for the Indian Army and Air Force on Wednesday. The (CCS), which met on Wednesday, approved purchasing the helicopters’ Limited Series Production versions for Rs 3,887 crore, including infrastructure sanctions. Many more helicopters are scheduled to be deployed in the future and those already in use in Ladakh.
The HAL-manufactured LCH, equipped with a 20 m cannon, 70 mm rockets, air-to-air missiles, and air-to-ground versions, will supplement the heavier 22 Apache assault choppers acquired from the US.
According to sources in the military and security sector, the Army and IAF have a combined demand of around 160 twin-engine LCHs capable of operating even in Siachen, the only combat helicopter capable of doing so globally.
ACCORDING TO HAL, the LCH has a top speed of 268 km/h, a range of 550 km, and an oblique climb rate of 12 m/s.
“This helicopter is outfitted with the necessary agility, maneuverability, extended range, high altitude performance, and round-the-clock, all-weather combat capability to perform roles such as Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), Destruction of Enemy Air Defence (DEAD), Counter Insurgency (CI) operations against slow-moving aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAs), high altitude bunker-busting operations, and Counter-Insurgency operations in jungle.”
The Modi government’s approval of the LCH, which is part of the larger objective of achieving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ was long expected.
The LCH’s beginnings may be traced back to the late-2000s development of the HAL. However, the manufacturing of these choppers had been plagued by multiple delays before the first test flight in 2010. However, the Ministry of Defence did not place a formal order for any LCH from HAL until November 2016, when it acquired 15 choppers for the limited series manufacturing.
The LCH completed armament trials in January 2019 and was deemed “ready for operational induction” by HAL in February 2020. According to a Prittle Prattle study, no contract has ever been formally given by the government, although HAL has been building and supplying LCH to the Army and IAF since September 2021.
The authored article is written by Sejal Wakkar and shared with Prittle Prattle News exclusively.
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