HAL Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

[Shaitan]

 

[Twinblade]

Rudra Demo at AI 2013.

 

[Neil]

Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) glass cockpit on display at Aero India 2013. Photo Credit: Vijainder K Thakkur
Seen above is a spectacular HDR photograph of the LUH Glass Cockpit

 

[khullgurn]

Surely that is the Dornier Do-228 Cabin, with upgraded displays

Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) glass cockpit on display at Aero India 2013. Photo Credit: Vijainder K Thakkur
Seen above is a spectacular HDR photograph of the LUH Glass Cockpit

 

[Kunal Biswas]

LUH glass cockpit..

 

[WMD]

Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) glass cockpit on display at Aero India 2013. Photo Credit: Vijainder K Thakkur
Seen above is a spectacular HDR photograph of the LUH Glass Cockpit

its Dornier Do-228 not LUH.

 

[Shaitan]

 

[Defcon 1]

Navy keen on weaponised Dhruv

LCH, under development, to participate in Air Force firepower demo
The Navy, which had earlier turned its back on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) over issues with the dimension of the helicopter blade that ostensibly made it unsuitable for ship-borne operations, is learnt to have evinced interest, at Aero India, in the weaponised ALH named Rudra, which was inducted into the Army.

The force, which currently operates eight ALHs mainly for search and rescue operations, is keen on inducting at least 20 Rudras, the Mark 4 version of weapon system integrated ALH, for coastal security operations.

The Coast Guard, in the meantime, may opt for a truncated version of Rudra, probably the Mark 3 variant with a customised side-mounted gun, for the same purpose.

Quality image

During recent flight trials of Rudra over the sea at Kochi, its sensors proved their mettle tracking ships from a range of about 12 km to 14 km. "The quality of the image was so good that we could read names of vessels from that distance," said Wing Commander (retired) Subash P. John, test pilot (rotary wing) of HAL.

He said the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), under development at HAL, is also shaping up well, is all set to take part in the forthcoming firepower demonstration of the Air Force, Iron Fist, in Pokhran. "The helicopter will fly in formation with other HAL helicopters Cheetah, Chetak and ALH besides doing some display-flying," he said.

Unni Pillai, Wing Commander (retd.) and chief test pilot (rotary wing) of HAL, said the lessons learnt from building the ALH stood HAL in good stead while developing the LCH and the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), currently being ground-tested.

The LCH programme, funded by the Air Force, is progressing well, and the aim is to hand over the first helicopter at the next edition of Aero India. "The LUH prototype would hopefully be flying then," he said.

Orders placed

The Air Force has placed orders for 64 LCHs and the Army has expressed its desire to buy 114.

Two LCH helicopters, technology demonstrators 1 and 2 (TD-1 and TD-2), are flying at the moment, while TD-3, which will be the final configuration of the helicopter, will be flying at the beginning of next year, he pointed out.

The LCH, in the 5.8 to 5.10 tonne class of helicopters, will have anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), which will be either MBDA-made Pars3 or Rafael-built Spike-ER till the time the indigenous Helina gets operational; air-to-air missile Mistral2; 70 mm rockets and 20 mm turret-mounted guns that can be operated using helmet-mounted pointing mechanism.

There exists a capability gap in neutralising unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that violate Indian air space and the LCH is an ideal platform for intercepting these surveillance UAVs, said Mr. Pillai.

The helicopter's sensor package includes an Israel-made electro-optic tracking system, forward-looking infrared, TV camera, laser rangefinder and laser designator. For self-protection, it has radar warning receiver, laser warning receiver and missile approach warning sensor.

The two TDs currently flight-tested are carrying dummy warheads, but weapon integration and testing will be done once TD3 comes out.

Suited for

high altitude

The stealth helicopter, with very low radar cross-section, is suited for high-altitude operations as well. "We took the helicopter to 20,000 ft during trials over Bangalore," said Mr. Pillai.


Lessons learnt from building the ALH stood HAL in good stead while developing the LCH: Pillai

The Air Force has ordered 64 LCHs while the Army wants to buy 114 of them

The Hindu : Today's Paper / NATIONAL : Navy keen on weaponised Dhruv

 

[Defcon 1]

Hi, does anyone know the rate of production of Dhruv? Read somewhere that it is 44 helis per annum but if that was the case, the order of 159 helis would have been met a long time ago, isn't it?

 

[Bhadra]

Hi, does anyone know the rate of production of Dhruv? Read somewhere that it is 44 helis per annum but if that was the case, the order of 159 helis would have been met a long time ago, isn't it?

Never go by the claims of DREDOs and PSUs...

 

[Kunal Biswas]

If i am not wrong there are more than +120 Dhruv active in Indian Army..

Don`t know about Navy and Airforce so does coast guards..

Hi, does anyone know the rate of production of Dhruv? Read somewhere that it is 44 helis per annum but if that was the case, the order of 159 helis would have been met a long time ago, isn't it?

 

[sayareakd]

cant they have that Rudra gun on ALH?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Rudra ..

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Yes, But then you cant have the radar at nose..

cant they have that Rudra gun on ALH?

 

[Defcon 1]

If i am not wrong there are more than +120 Dhruv active in Indian Army..

Don`t know about Navy and Airforce so does coast guards..

About 130 actually, by December 2009, 90 had been delivered. so the rate of production should only be one-third of what is claimed. Still there is wiki link saying that HAL will deliver 20 Rudras to army by mid 2013.

Here is a very interesting link I found which highlights the failures in Dhruv project.

http://cag.gov.in/html/reports/commercial/2010-11_10PA/chap3.pdf

I believe that many of the problems mentioned in the document have been rectified, but we still don't know how much of Dhruv is indigenous by value.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Rudra With Rocket Pods..

 

[sayareakd]

Yes, But then you cant have the radar at nose..

sir what is that radar is for ???

we can have mast mounted sight, it is difficult system but this will allow helicopter not only to get close to action but also to be used for surveillance and for evacuation of casualties.

It will become multipurpose ALH

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Dhruv MK3

==================================================================================

These are from 2009 only, Do you have link from 2012 ..

Coz in between 4 years lots of things have changed in ALH..

Here is a very interesting link I found which highlights the failures in Dhruv project.

http://cag.gov.in/html/reports/commercial/2010-11_10PA/chap3.pdf

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Mainly For Navigation in Rough terrains..

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The main issue will be Gun and Ammo kept in Nose section..

sir what is that radar is for ???

we can have mast mounted sight, it is difficult system but this will allow helicopter not only to get close to action but also to be used for surveillance and for evacuation of casualties.

It will become multipurpose ALH

 

[Defcon 1]

^^^

Well its a CAG audit, it doesn't occur ever year, so no. But still it tells us number of Dhruvs that were being produced by the year and the fact that 74 Dhruvs are flying without achieving full operational capability. Possibly Dhruv Mk3 is the first version to be fully operational. It also tells us why army is still ordering more Cheetah/Chetak for Siachin ops. Also it tells us that payload of Dhruv decreases to 200 kg at 6km altitude(thats the requirement, not gonna change in future too). Interesting read.