The Indian Air Force on Monday formally inducted the primary indigenously developed Multirole Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), named Prachanda, into its fleet at its Jodhpur base in Rajasthan within the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. These helicopters are able to destroying enemy air defenses, finishing up counter-insurgency operations, and conducting search and rescue operations.
Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary had been additionally current on the induction ceremony at 143 Helicopter Unit at Jodhpur base. After the induction, the Defense Minister additionally flew within the helicopter.
The formal inclusion of Prachanda, which suggests “fierce”, the Cabinet Committee on Safety headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March accepted the acquisition of 15 LCH Limited Series Production (LSP) at a price of Rs 3,887 crore. Infrastructure clearance of Rs 377 crore. Of the 15 helicopters being procured from LSP, 10 are for the Indian Air Force and 5 for the Indian Army.
In his handle on the convocation, Rajnath Singh mentioned: “For a long time after independence, the indigenous technology for developing attack helicopters was not given enough attention. As a result, the IAF had to rely on attack helicopters of foreign origin. The long-standing need for indigenous attack helicopters was further highlighted during the Kargil War. The LCH is the result of over two decades of research and development since then. And its induction marks a significant milestone in our journey of indigenous defense production. It’s a stone.”
#watch , The first indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) was inducted into the Indian Air Force in Jodhpur within the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary. pic.twitter.com/sh3fqkTprg
— ANI (@ANI) 3 October 2022
The LCH has a slim fuselage as a result of tandem cockpit configuration for the pilot and co-pilot gunners and has a number of stealth options, armor safety, night time assault functionality and crash-worthy touchdown gear for higher survivability. It is a 5.5-tonne class fight helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a protection public sector enterprise.
The Defense Minister mentioned that the LSP variant of the LCH has about 45 per cent indigenous content material by worth which is able to progressively enhance to over 55 per cent for the sequence manufacturing model.
The ministry mentioned the helicopter is provided with requisite agility, maneuverability, prolonged vary, excessive altitude efficiency and around the clock, all-weather fight functionality to carry out the function of Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), destroying enemy air defenses, the ministry mentioned. Is. (DEAD), counter-insurgency (CI) operation.
It can be an efficient asset for sluggish transferring plane and remotely transferring plane (RPA) fight and will be deployed in excessive altitude bunker busting operations and counter-terrorism operations in each jungle and concrete environments . It can successfully help floor forces in varied fight eventualities.
According to HAL, there’s an estimated requirement of 160 LCH – 65 for IAF and 95 for Army. After receiving the contract for 15 within the LSP sequence in March following the choice of the Cabinet Committee, some items have already been delivered and the remainder are in varied levels of approval.
HAL mentioned it has drawn up an in depth masterplan to attain a most price manufacturing capability of 30 helicopters per 12 months to finish the manufacturing of the remaining 145 LCHs in eight years from the date of signing of the sequence manufacturing order.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
