NEW DELHI: The Indian Military will begin phasing out its Cheetah and Chetak helicopters in three to 4 years, with your entire fleet set to get replaced with new choppers over the following 10 to 12 years because the Military Aviation Corps seeks to modernise its capabilities with new gentle utility helicopters, assault helicopters and unmanned aerial automobiles, high officers conscious of the event mentioned on Tuesday.
It can observe a two-pronged alternative strategy — induct domestically produced gentle utility helicopters (LUH) and lease related choppers as a stopgap to fulfill crucial necessities, mentioned one of many officers asking to not be named.
The military wants round 250 new helicopters.
“We’ll order round 100 LUHs from Hindustan Aeronautics Restricted (HAL). Given the manufacturing capability of HAL, we should take a look at different means to interchange your entire fleet. Leasing some helicopters for a couple of years is an possibility, after which we are able to return to HAL for the remaining numbers,” the official mentioned.
The design of the single-engine Cheetah and Chetak helicopters is sort of six many years previous, and their airworthiness has been questioned after a string of mishaps in recent times. In March, two military pilots have been killed in a Cheetah crash within the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh. The accident turned the highlight on the troubling security file of the ageing helicopters and the urgent want to interchange them with newer ones as rapidly as doable.
Round 15 Cheetahs and Chetaks have crashed over the last 10 years, killing a number of pilots.
The present fleet is airworthy and nonetheless has a technical life of some years left, the officers mentioned.
It’s not harmful to fly them, mentioned a second official. “In any other case, we’d have stopped flying them. We’ll begin with changing these helicopters whose technical life can be over in three to 4 years, and the method will proceed. Accidents do occur however there is no such thing as a main concern with the helicopter,” he mentioned.
For many years, Cheetahs have performed a vital function in supporting the military’s deployments in high-altitude areas, together with the Siachen glacier.
LUH, which is being fitted with an autopilot by HAL, will meet the military’s necessities in high-altitude areas and the helicopter could have a greater load-carrying capability than Cheetahs and Chetaks, the officers mentioned.
“Autopilot is a key requirement as LUH has a unique rotor system. Flying LUH past 30-35 minutes turns into humanly not possible due to the hundreds which come again on the pilot. As soon as autopilot is fitted, the load-carrying functionality of LUH can be phenomenal,” mentioned the second official, including that LUH can carry 25 to 30% extra load than Cheetah.
HAL licence-produced 625 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters for the three companies.
HAL now not builds them however is liable for their upkeep and restore. In 1970, HAL signed an settlement with French aerospace agency Aerospatiale to supply Cheetahs, eight years after it tied up with one other French agency, Sud-Aviation (now Airbus), to fabricate Chetaks.
In August 2014, India scrapped a ₹6,000-crore venture to import gentle utility helicopters to interchange Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, the third time the procurement was scrapped as a consequence of corruption allegations and technical points. The Kamov-226T gentle utility choppers, deliberate to be constructed collectively with Russia, have been to interchange Cheetahs and Chetaks. However the $1-billion programme by no means took off.
The military has thus far ordered six limited-series manufacturing LUHs from HAL.
It is usually set to induct subsequent 12 months six Boeing-made AH64E Apache assault helicopters ordered in 2020 from the US for greater than ₹4,100 crore. Armed with fire-and-forget Hellfire missiles, the Apache can observe as much as 128 targets a minute and prioritise threats. The missiles equip the gunships with heavy anti-armour capabilities.
The military will deploy its Apaches alongside the nation’s western border with Pakistan, the officers mentioned.
It is usually heading in the right direction to order extra gentle fight helicopters (LCH), having raised and operationalised the primary LCH squadron this 12 months. The military wants round 90 LCHs, additionally designed and developed by HAL.
Different inductions within the works embrace Hermes 900 Starliner UAVs and extra superior gentle helicopter Mk-III, the officers mentioned. The method of integrating domestically developed anti-tank guided missile Helina with armed ALHs known as Rudra can be on and is predicted to be accomplished in a 12 months.
The Heron MK II UAVs inducted this 12 months and the deliberate induction of Hermes 900 Starliners won’t solely enhance the reconnaissance and surveillance functionality of the military but in addition their teaming with fight helicopters will show to be a sport changer within the third dimension, the officers mentioned.
The military presently has three aviation brigades and plans to boost extra, they mentioned.
The military will induct within the subsequent three to 4 years the MQ-9B remotely piloted plane techniques to be imported from the US. The acquisition of those drones, in a government-to-government deal estimated to be price $3 billion, will considerably enhance the Indian navy’s power because the versatile platform can strike targets with its on-board weapons, it could possibly perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and its different roles embrace digital warfare, defensive counter air and airborne early warning.
India is pursuing a deal to purchase 31 drones — 15 for the navy, and eight every for the military and the Indian Air Pressure.