India Procures 15 HAL Light Combat Helicopters
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the procurement of 15 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) Limited Series Production (LSP) for ₹3,887 crore ($513 million), along with infrastructure worth ₹377 crore ($50 million). The Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive ten helicopters while the Indian Army will get five.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed and manufactures the LCH. After the CCS approval, MoD signed two separate contracts, for IAF and the Army, with HAL. MoD in a press release stated that LCH will be used in the following roles: Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), Destruction of Enemy Air Defence (DEAD), against slow moving aircraft and drones, Counter Insurgency operations in jungle and urban environments, support to ground forces and high altitude bunker busting operations. LCH is specially designed for high altitude operations and can fly at altitudes of 6500m with armament.
LCH is equipped with the following systems: Elbit CoMPASS EO pod, solid state digital video recorder, Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) and IR suppressor among others. It is armed with a Nexter M621 20mm cannon, Mistral air to air missiles and FZ231 rocket pods. Dhruvastra/Helina anti-tank missiles will also be integrated. Several key technologies like a glass cockpit and composite airframe structure have been indigenized. The LCH LSP version has 45% indigenous content by value which will be increased to 55% in the future Series Production (SP) version, which will be equipped with even more indigenous systems. Over 150 LCH SP are expected to be procured by the Army and IAF.
The HAL production facility for LCH was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in February 2020. In August 2020, two of the four LCH prototypes had been deployed in Ladakh as part of an IAF force projection effort during the standoff with China. In November 2021, the LCH was ceremonially handed over to the IAF by Prime Minister Modi. The HAL Rudra, a weaponized version of the ALH Dhruv having the same armament of LCH, is already in service with the Indian Army and IAF.