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Officials said the Army and Air Force will receive a light combat helicopter (LCH) each by March, even before formal orders have been placed, as the production programme is on and necessary certifications have been received. “In recent tests by the armed forces in high altitude areas of Ladakh, the helicopters demonstrated that they can operate with adequate payloads,” Hindustan Aeronautics Limited chairman R Madhavan told ET.
He said the helicopters can be produced in quantities required by the forces. The LCH will also be among the premium offerings by India at the upcoming AeroIndia show, where potential foreign customers are expected to go for test flights as well. Officials believe the LCH has good export potential in the region.
As of now, the defence ministry has given approval for procurement of an initial batch of 15 LCHs (10 for Air Force and five for Army) but the numbers are expected to go up as the first ones enter service. The helicopters have been specially designed keeping the requirements of high altitude forces and the lessons learnt during the Kargil war, where such a capability was missed.
The 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL is the first of its kind to have landed at forward bases at Siachen at an altitude of 4,700 meters with a 500 kg load. A production facility for the chopper has been established at Bengaluru and only orders are awaited from the armed forces for adequate numbers.
The new production hangar set up last year can reach a peak production of 30 helicopters per year. The LCH has successfully carried out a range of missions, including firing of an air-to-air missile – the first by a chopper developed in India. It is also equipped with a 20mm Turret gun and 70 mm rockets, the firing trials of which have already been completed.
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