HAL Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

[Dhairya Yadav]

I wonder what causes all these crashes in IAF, bad spares? training? non the less they are costing us huge sums of money...

 

[Punya Pratap]

Individual checks being carried out on each Dhruv
Published August 14, 2014 | By admin
SOURCE: INDIA TODAY



Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit the Siachen glacier during his Leh visit on Tuesday but if he had gone to the world's highest battlefield with the standard entourage, the army would have been hard pressed to manage the flying effort required. The reason being that for almost three weeks, India's entire fleet of 140 odd Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) have been grounded after a fatal crash that have raised serious safety questions on the fleet.

Besides their standard duties in Army formations, these choppers have been increasingly pressed into service in the Siachen region over the past few months due to a massive shortage of light helicopters that has occurred due to the inability of the UPA government to replace the three decade old fleet of Cheetah choppers that is the main supply line for the Brigade plus strength of soldiers manning the glacier.

However, the entire fleet of these ALH choppers have not been flying since July 25 when a fatal crash in Uttar Pradesh led to the death of seven air force personnel and threw up serious safety issues – primarily due to the fact that the chopper went down in good weather on a standard sortie over flat land after a technical fault was reported by the crew moments before the loss.

It can now be revealed that the July 25 crash that took place near Sitapur, involved an ALH chopper that had been certified for operational flying just three days prior on July 22 after a standard maintenance schedule that was carried out by the Indian Air Force in Bareilly. Sources have said that the chopper barely had 520 hours of flying time and had come out of a month long standard maintenance schedule before the crash.

In fact, the chopper had barely flown for six hours after the maintenance that the accident occurred. While investigations are on to ascertain the reason behind the accident, all choppers in service with the air force and army have been notified as grounded by an HAL directive. As many as 12 teams of the chopper manufacturer are currently carrying out inspections of each and every machine. Both Air Force and Army officials have confirmed the grounding while HAL officials have said that inspections of the entire fleet are on.

While the manufacturers have raised doubts on the process of maintenance followed by the air force days prior to the crash, accounts have varied from panels falling off the tail section of the chopper to a failure of the tail rotor system. Sources said that the transmission system and tail control systems are being checked for faults.

A complete check of the entire fleet and preliminary findings of the crash inquiry could take a few more days to be carried out and the fleet will not fly till an all clear is sounded. Till then, the ALH choppers that undertake critical supply sorties to the Siachen region shall not undertake any missions. In all the army aviation operates 70 of these choppers at various locations.

What has compounded the problems for the Army is that its entire deployment of troops in the Siachen area are heavily dependent on light choppers for vital supplies of medicines food and ammunition, besides the life saving role of medical evacuations.
While for the past three decades, this task has been carried out by a fleet of Cheetah choppers that land at impossible altitudes much beyond their initial design limits, this fleet has been ageing fast and has reached the end of its service life.

The army has however not got any new choppers despite hectic efforts for almost a decade under the UPA regime after successive tenders failed to reach a conclusion on reasons varying from corruption charges to an improper process. The most recent effort to purchase 197 new choppers has been stuck for two years as one of the competitors that lost out – AgustaWestland – has been under investigations on corruption charges in the VVIP chopper deal.

Even the relatively heavier ALH Choppers that have been employed as emergency alternatives on the glacier have had their spate of incidents. In the past year for example, at least two category one crashes in which the entire chopper has been lost have occurred on the Siachen glacier itself.

When contact, an Army HQ official said "The fleet has not been flying since the accidents as checks are on. It is still not known how long the choppers will remain grounded". An IAF spokesperson confirmed that the ALH fleet has not been flying. A senior HAL official when contacted said "Inspection of the fleet is on and 12 teams led by senior officials have been dispatched at various locations across the nation to assist in checks"

 

[Punya Pratap]

A typical IAF and HAL blame game in the offing... HAL complains about the standard maintenance carried at IAF Bareilly BRD and IAF blames tail rotor section of Dhruv!!
Typical Indian mentality of chucking the blame on each other and never trying to put the opposing brains together to sort out the issue so that we have an indigenous product that serves the country's interest!!

 

[Kunal Biswas]

The issue is with high sorties and maintenance ..

 

[anupamsurey]

yes, maintenance is key here, we all know Dhruv has been flying for a long time now, but sadly no one wants to take the responsibility.

 

[cobra commando]

Grounded Dhruv fleet expected to fly soon

August 19, 2014: The ALH Dhruv platform, grounded across the four armed services since July 25 when an IAF Dhruv crashed killing seven personnel on board, is likely to be cleared for flight soon. Individual inspections of each platform has taken place over the last three weeks, with concerns raised over certain safety-critical components, including the tail rotor, spider assembly, transmission system etc. The Dhruv that crashed in Sitapur, U.P., last month had returned just 72 hours prior to the crash from a maintenance routine, and was fully passed for flight. That the accident took place in clear weather has also alarmed the IAF, which operates 40 Dhruvs, including a unit at Leh that supplies troops in Thoise and Siachen. HAL sources said investigations were still underway and that it would be premature to conjecture on whether there were any design or construction issues, though IAF sources suggest there could be quality scare. On all counts, otherwise, the ALH platform has proven to be robust and reliable, even at the highest altitudes of helicopter operation in the country. A comprehensive safety report on the Dhruv will be submitted by the three services to the MoD by November this year.
SP’s Exculsive - SP's Aviation

 

[Dhairya Yadav]

i think something went wrong while maintanance was being done...dhruv is up among the best light helicopters, shouldnt be a design fault.

 

[Twinblade]

If everything goes right, Spike/Pars 3 will not be integrated with Rudra/LCH and they will start off directly with Helina.

 

[cobra commando]

Dhruv helicopters back in action after Sitapur crash | Mail Online

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Flood Relief Update:120 Sorties of Army Aviation being done per day for rescue work. 71 seriously ill persons airlifted "ª#"ŽArmyRescue"¬

 

[abingdonboy]

IAF ALH Mk III/IV with FLIR and self defence suite

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Hi-res

IAF ALH Mk III/IV with FLIR and self defence suite

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Army Dhruvs >>

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

Army have its own Flair equipped Dhruvs MK1 & 2 and operating them for some time ..

 

[biswaranjanrath.sipu]

India should promote the export of dhruv to the friendly countries like Bangladesh, srilanka,Vietnam and Indonesia.

 

[manuparshwal]

article source pls.. regarding induction of Rudra and test firing of HELINA

 

[Raj Malhotra]

Has anybody noticed that comments of CAG on HAL where they record that HAL wasted Rs 1100 crores paying for Shakti Engine technology and got nothing in return. Note the present value of Rs 1100 crores would be around Rs 1600 crores due to USD appreciation.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) signed (January 2003), a Cooperation
Agreement (agreement), with
Turbomeca, France (TM) at a cost of
`878.08 crore for co-development and
indigenous production of 320 Shakti
engines in five phases (0 to 4) by 2013.
The assembly kits for various phases were
to be supplied by TM at the agreed prices

subject to escalation (with 2002 as base
year) valid up to the year of delivery.
Audit observed that even· after more than
a decade, the self-reliance in manufacture
of an engine to suit requirements of ALH
has not been achieved as envisaged. The
need for variants of engines to operate at
different climatic conditions and altitude
was not foreseen leading to frequent
modifications requiring more investment
in terms of time and money. HAL had to
bear additional burden due to the failure of
TM, indicating undue favours extended to
the foreign partner in the development and
production of Shakti engines. Failure to
ensure compliance to offset obligation by
the foreign collaborator has so far denied
an opportunity to the Indian industry
to contribute towards self-reliance.
Acquisition of additional technical knowhow
without optimal usage of free technical
assistance has further contributed to extra
cost on the project.
Thus, inability of HAL to absorb the
technology and non-assessment of the
available in-house capacity to manufacture
Shakti engines impacted timely induction of
ALH into Defence forces and also resulted
in avoidable extra expenditure of 204.27
crore to HAL.

 

[Raj Malhotra]

Turbomeca has got a windfall deal from HAL in Shakti engine. They used HAL money to develop various variants and most conveniently even after 25 years HAL has not started any manufacturing at all for the engine. India needs around 2000 to 2500 engines for ALH, LCH and LUH but HAL is just happy doing screw driver giri. Now the moot question is who is benefiting from such sweet heart deal?? Presently, instead of developing an advanced variant of Shakti engine, HAL is going for ab-initio development of another 1200kw engine which would be available in 2030, so till then Turbomeca can loot us merrily.

 

[sgarg]

IAF does not like HAL built engines. HAL has adopted the short cut of importing engines.

Since engine is the most important component of aircraft, no meaningful indigenisation happens with imported engine.

HAL prefers building Russian engines as Russian technology is not as advanced as Western. HAL has been able to absorb Russian tech better. However this tech does not yield Western origin engine which are built with better metallurgy and production processes.

Building an engine based on Western design requires a good amount of R&D and support of local industry to build machines and instruments. HAL simply does not have the maturity to pull projects like this.

I can assure the readers that the big and complex manufacturing has to be undertaken by private companies. The public sector is not up to the challenge. Has never been.

The private companies operate with greater size and with far greater management and engineering maturity.

 

[PaliwalWarrior]

IAF does not like HAL built engines. HAL has adopted the short cut of importing engines.

Since engine is the most important component of aircraft, no meaningful indigenisation happens with imported engine.

HAL prefers building Russian engines as Russian technology is not as advanced as Western. HAL has been able to absorb Russian tech better. However this tech does not yield Western origin engine which are built with better metallurgy and production processes.

Building an engine based on Western design requires a good amount of R&D and support of local industry to build machines and instruments. HAL simply does not have the maturity to pull projects like this.

I can assure the readers that the big and complex manufacturing has to be undertaken by private companies. The public sector is not up to the challenge. Has never been.

The private companies operate with greater size and with far greater management and engineering maturity.

why did we need DMRL to build/ research and develop naval grade steel ?

why didnt the TATAs, Jindals, etc etc etc stepup?

why is it that Pvt sector always employs PSU people in their setup ?

why is it ex SAIL employees that made Arcelor Mittal the largest steel co in the world ?
why is it exSAIL employees who turn around loss making / junk steel plants around the globe for Arcelor mittal ?

i acn go on ...............

 

[power_monger]

Indians have got to the habit of hyping up Private companies which have virtually no capabilities and contributions as far as defense field goes.

Even in automobiles which TATA and Mahindra are working on several decades,they are not able to match to the quality of japanese or germans. There is no point in cribbing about bring Pvt companies.