Indian Navy Kickstarts LUH Programme

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The Indian Navy has started the process of acquiring new Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) for its fleet to replace the largely obsolescent fleet of ‘Chetak’ helicopters. The new fleet of ALH will increase the Indian Navy’s capability to step-up surveillance activities, search and rescue missions and casualty evacuation besides other crucial military activities.

According to the Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Indian Navy, the LUH must be a twin engine helicopter and should be operated by two pilots although it must be fully capable of single pilot operations as well.

The RFI also makes it mandatory for the helicopters to have the capability to operate from a snow-covered region, sleet, sand, water and slush. It must have the capability to carry out anti-submarine warfare attack using torpedoes and depth charges, besides anti-terrorism and anti-piracy roles.The RFI added that potential vendors are given a time frame of three weeks to reply to the RFI.

The current fleet of “Cheetah” and “Chetak” helicopters are used by all the three Indian Armed Forces for various operations and are in dire need of replacements since they have been in service for over three decades. In 2003, a global tender for 197 helicopters was floated for replacing the “Cheetah” and “Chetak” helicopters. The Indian Army dissolved the contract that was given to France-based Eurocopter SA after allegations of unfair trials by its competitor Bell Helicopter and a second tender was floated in 2008.

As per the earlier projections and plans of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Army, 384 LUHs will be acquired over the next decade, out of which 197 would be procured from foreign vendors and the remaining would be indigenously produced by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in collaboration with a foreign partner.

As for the ‘Cheetah’ helicopters, the licence agreement for their manufacture was signed with M/s SNIAS, France (presently M/s EUROCOPTER, France) in September 1970 and the first Cheetah helicopter manufactured from raw materials was delivered during 1976-77. Over the next twenty years, HAL’s Helicopter Division produced hundreds of ‘Chetak’ and ‘Cheetah’ helicopters for the Indian Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard.

Earlier this year, HAL conducted the maiden flight of the first Technology Demonstrator of its indigenously designed & developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). The LCH is a dedicated attack helicopter derived from the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and is fitted with weapon systems, mission systems and crashworthy wheel landing gear with in-built stealth characteristics. However, its induction in the armed forces will be a while.

Due to the lack of helicopters, even the Indian Army has made a fast-track acquisition of 20 “Cheetal” helicopters from the state-owned HAL in March this year. The “Cheetal” helicopter is the re-engined Cheetah helicopter, with the replacement of Artouste IIIB with the TM 333-2M2 engine. The reduced weight of the TM 333-2M2 engine, with better specific fuel consumption enables increased range, endurance and payload making the helicopter more versatile in various roles, including search and rescue, and missions in high altitude.

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