HAL Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

[Kunal Biswas]

Its good for quick extraction or insertion and dropping supplies ..

Is this Back Door new development for Dhruv ? I had never seen this type of picture earlier.

 

[Prashant12]

------------------------------------------------------

 

[abingdonboy]

---------------------------

 

[indiatester]

@abingdonboy guess where the picture you got of Marina ended up
Thought Rudra is not in the helicopter list, the article's main picture carries it!
http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/g2977/most-important-helicopters

The 15 Most Important Helicopters of All Time

Airplanes rules the skies, but helicopters tackle the most versatile, and often, most dangerous tasks.

Getty Marina Lystseva
By Eric Tegler
Mar 2, 2017

For thousands of years, humanity envied a bird's ability to get aloft right on the spot. Even when we figured out how to make heavier-than-air machines fly, we couldn't fly freely in any direction like our avian counterparts can. It would take three decades after the Wright Brothers' first flight to realize our closest approximation: what we today call the helicopter.

Some of these metal birds have impacted our lives in ways we instantly recognize; others have a lesser-known legacy. So here is our list—ripe for debate—of the 15 most important helicopters ever.

Focke-Wulf Fw-61: The World's First Helicopter

First flight: June 26, 1936

Germany made rapid progress in vertical flight in the 1930s with the design and construction of the Focke-Wulf FW-61, generally regarded as the first functional helicopter.

Professor Henrich Focke started designing what would become the Fw-61 in 1932, using experience gained with autogyros from British maker, Cierva Autogiro. He built a model in 1934 to explore a twin-rotor configuration with articulated rotor blades. A 1935 government order allowed Focke to develop a full-scale prototype using the airframe of a training aircraft (Focke-Wulf's Fw-44) to mount rotors on tube steel outriggers on either side of the fuselage and to house a radial engine driving the rotors through gears and shafts.

Each rotor consisted of three articulated and tapered blades employing cyclic pitch, a core concept of helicopter control. A small propeller mounted in front of the radial was used for cooling only, not thrust. The first of two Fw-61s prototypes flew on 26 June 1936 with pilot, Ewald Rohlfs. Focke's helicopters proved vertical flight and auto-rotation concepts, and gained even more notoriety when German aviatrix, Hanna Reitsch (flying in the picture above), flew one indoors at the Deutschlandhalle sports stadium in Berlin in 1938.

Getty ullstein bild
Sikorsky R-4: The First Mass-Produced Helicopter

First flight: January 14, 1942

Designed by the legendary Igor Sikorsky and based on his VS300 prototype, the R-4 set the pattern for the conventional helicopter with its single lifting-rotor/single vertical-plane tail rotor configuration.

Developed and publicly demonstrated in 1940, it was accepted by the U.S. Army in 1942. The R-4 set the first meaningful helicopter records including a 761-mile cross-country flight and service ceiling record of 12,000 feet while boasting a top speed of nearly 90 mph.

Experimentation with the R-4 began almost immediately with the first deck landing on a ship made in 1944. The same year the first combat rescue by helicopter was made by Army Lieutenant Carter Harman of the 1st Air Commando Group using a YR-4B (pictured above) in the China-Burma-India theater.

NASA Langley
The Bell 47: The First Helicopter Certified for Civilian Use

First flight: December 8, 1945

Images of the Bell 47 open every episode of M.A.S.H., and it saw Army service in Korea and beyond as the H-13 Sioux. But its most important distinction lies in its approval for civil use by the CAA in 1946.

The prototype Bell Model 30 designed by Arthur M. Young was the basis for the 47 which first flew in December1945. Powered by a single Franklin or Lycoming six-cylinder piston engine, the Bell 47 proved endlessly adaptable with some 18 variants serving as everything from lunar lander trainers for the Apollo program to cropdusters. In 1958, a Bell 47 leased by Los Angeles TV station, KTLA, made the first successful television news flight transmitting video as the station's new "Telecopter". License-built in Japan and sold worldwide, over 1,000 of the 5,600 produced are still airworthy.

Getty Keystone
Aerospatiale SA-313 Alouette II: The First Jet-powered Helicopter

First flight: March 12, 1955

In the early 1950s, French state-owned manufacturer, Sud Aviation, experimented with a variety of rotary wing designs including the SA 3120 Alouette light helicopter. While the Alouette prototype broke several helicopter speed and distance records, government support was lukewarm at best.

To consolidate French backing and further boost performance, Sud paired another design (X.310G) with a single shaft turbine developed by Joseph Szydlowski, the founder of Turbomeca. The resulting Alouette II flew in March 1955, becoming the first production jet-powered helicopter. It began setting records almost immediately, establishing a helicopter altitude record of 26,932 feet in June of that year. An Alouette II drew attention when it became the first helicopter to perform a mountain rescue, evacuating a stricken climber over 13,000 feet up in the Alps, and again in 1957 when it searched for the crew of a crashed Sikorsky S-58 on Mont Blanc (pictured above).

The SA-313 would go on to serve in 47 armed forces, earning distinction as the first helicopter equipped with anti-tank munitions (Nord S.11s). Over 1,500 Alouette IIs were built through 1975, including license-built versions produced in the U.S.

Getty REPORTERS ASSOCIES
Bell UH-1 Iroquois: The Vietnam Legend

First flight: October 20, 1956

The UH-1 Iroquois, called the "Huey," is the embodiment of the helicopter for people all over the world. Its association with Vietnam in history and in pop culture assured its status as did its groundbreaking use by American Forces. Over 16,000 military and civilian examples of the Huey family have been built, and production continues today with the military UH-1Y and civilian Bell 412.

Born as the Bell 204, the two-blade main rotor, single shaft turbine-powered design addressed an early 1950s Army requirement for a medical evacuation/instrument trainer/general utility helicopter. Selected in 1955 from 20 competing designs, it overcame early cabin configuration and insufficient power issues to become the U.S. military's first turbine-powered helicopter.

Officially named the "Iroquois" by the Army, its familiar "Huey" moniker stems from its early HU-1 designation. The nickname stuck so firmly that Bell actually cast "Huey" on the helicopter's anti-torque pedals. In Vietnam, its use as a MEDEVAC, utility, gunship, and transport aircraft altered the way modern armies fight. The air-assault/air cavalry concept was founded upon the Huey and the insertion/extraction techniques it pioneered underpin special forces operations to this day.

Anyone who has ever heard the Huey's characteristic two-blade rotor "whump-whump" sound will never forget it.

Getty Larry Burrows
Mil Mi-8: The World's Most Produced Helicopter

First flight: July 7, 1961

The first Mi-8 transport helicopter flew in July 1961. It's a workhorse, still being produced today with over 17,000 built. In use by approximately 80 countries, the "Hip" (its NATO codename) was reportedly inspired when Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, visited the U.S. in 1959 and took a ride in the Sikorsky S-58 presidential helicopter. Back in mother Russia, he ordered a similar helicopter to be developed in time for a visit by President Eisenhower.

Designer Mikhail Mil used Khrushchev's desire as an opportunity to develop a new twin-turboshaft transport. Employing two 1,500 shp Isotov TV2 turbines and a newly designed gearbox, the Mi-8 could carry 24 troops or 12 stretchers. Though production began in 1964, the Soviet military didn't really become interested until Vietnam demonstrated the value of rotary-wing aircraft like the Huey.

By 1967, the Soviets were rushing the Mi-8 into production. Over 35 military/civil variants including the more powerful Mi-17 have been used for everything from transport, armed reconnaissance/gunship, and heavy civilian airlift to dropping radiation-absorbing materials into the failed reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The Mi-8 is not just the world's most produced helicopter, it's among the most produced aircraft period.

Getty Dmitry Serebryakov
Boeing CH-47 Chinook: The Tandem Rotor Workhorse

First flight: September 21, 1961

The tandem arrangement of the CH-47's main rotors relates directly to its role as a heavy tactical lift helicopter. The 60 ft. diameter rotors mounted on pylons atop each end of the Chinook's fuselage rotate in opposite directions, counter-acting torque and eliminating the need for a tail rotor. All power from the two Lycoming turboshafts on either side of the rear pylon can be used for lift. Independent rotor adjustment makes the CH-47 less sensitive to center-of-gravity changes and more stable when weight is added or removed—all good things when lifting and dropping cargo or troops.

Developed in the late 1950s by Boeing Vertol from the Model 107 (which became the CH-46), the Chinook saw service in Vietnam where in addition to transporting troops, it placed heavy artillery pieces on otherwise inaccessible mountain positions and kept them resupplied with ammunition. The 47's large cargo compartment tempted crews to overload it at first and lifting slingloads underneath required experience. But it became an invaluable tool in Southeast Asia and development of the latest CH-47F shows that it remains so today. The Chinook also happens to be the third fastest helicopter in the world at 196 mph.

Staff Sgt. Jennifer Spradlin / U.S. Army

 

[indiatester]

cont....
Bell 206 JetRanger: The Civilian Chopper

• 
  

First flight: December 8, 1962

The Bell JetRanger is instantly recognizable to almost anyone raised in the West, a presence in the skies, on television, in films, and in newspapers for five decades. Whether chasing 55 mph-disdaining speeders in the 1970s, providing live local TV news pictures, transporting emergency medical patients, or shuttling celebrities to events, the Bell 206 family has defined the light corporate helicopter.

Ironically it was born as a military aircraft in the 1960s in response to a requirement for a light observation helicopter. Bell's D-250 twin blade, single turbine prototype (YOH-4A) lost out to the Hughes OH-6 but the company chose to market it as a civilian aircraft, self-funding development of the redesigned, larger 206A which first flew in 1966. By 1973 over 1,000 had been sold on the civil market and the Army had chosen it as a new observation helicopter (OH-58A) while the Navy selected it as a training helicopter (TH-57A).

Subsequent LongRanger variants increased performance and capacity and over 7,300 have been built. In 1982 a 206L completed the first around-the-world helicopter flight in 29 days.

Radosław Drożdżewski
Bell AH-1 Cobra: The First Dedicated Attack Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: September 7, 1965

Attack helicopters are a staple of advanced armies, but it wasn't until the Vietnam conflict that a truly purpose-built attack helicopter – the AH-1 Cobra—was fielded.

The Army's creation of Air Cavalry Brigades in the early 60s included a requirement for a dedicated attack helicopter. An Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFS) program posited a sophisticated, heavily armored machine. Bell had shown the Army a light attack design (D-255 Iroquois Warrior) based on the Huey in 1962. Though not selected for AAFS, Bell continued work on the concept.

By 1965 the Army sought an interim gunship for Vietnam duty and Bell responded with its Model 209, dubbed "Cobra". The Cobra featured a narrow forward fuselage with stub-wings and a fighter jet-like stepped-up tandem seating for the gunner (in front) and pilot (behind), a configuration seen in nearly all attack helicopters today. It borrowed components from the UH-1 Huey including its main rotor, turboshaft engine, transmission, tail boom, empennage, and tail rotor.

Designated AH-1, the Cobra debuted during the 1968 Tet offensive. In addition to escorting transport helicopters and forming "hunter/killer" teams with scout helicopters, it performed a rescue, picking up a downed F-100 Super Sabre pilot who clung to its gun panel door until over friendly territory. The AH-1 inspired attack helicopter designs worldwide and remains in service with the U.S. Marine Corps as the AH-1Z Viper.

Getty sierrarat
Westland Lynx: The First Fully Aerobatic Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: March 21, 1971

While the Huey dominated the medium utility/attack market in the late 1960s-early 1970s, Europe looked to develop its own competitors. British manufacturer, Westland, came up with its WG.13 in the late 60s, intended as a replacement for its previous designs, and to challenge the Huey.

Initially folded into a joint Anglo-French development program, the WG.13 soon devolved to a purely British effort as a naval attack platform. Following its first flight in March1971, the Lynx showed the benefits of its special main rotor design which allowed it to perform loops, rolls, and handle much like a fixed-wing aircraft. It was also fast, setting a speed record in 1972 at 199.9 mph.

The Lynx debuted in British Army/Navy service in the late 1970s in transport, armed escort, anti-tank, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and other roles and flew during the Falklands War and in Iraq. In 1986, a modified Lynx set a new speed record at 249 mph. The basic Lynx design has evolved into the Augusta Westland AW159 military helicopter.

Heb

Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk: The Modern Huey

• 
  

First flight: October 17, 1974

The Army was already looking to replace the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey in the late 1960s launching the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program around a common turbine engine (GE's T700). Sikorsky came up with the S-70, a twin engine design it put forward as the YUH-60A for UTTAS. The first prototype flew in October 1974, besting Boeing's YUH-61A in a flyoff competition.

It would become the UH-60 Black Hawk – named after a Native American warrior. It entered service in 1979 as the Army's new assault/utility helicopter. During its development, the Navy was evaluating replacements for its SH-2 Sea Sprite search and rescue/maritime warfare helicopter. Favoring common acquisition with the Army, the Navy chose Sikorsky's UH-60-based design as the SH-60B Seahawk in 1978. These choices spawned a family of H-60 models including the Coast Guard Jayhawk, special operations Pave Hawk and VH-60N presidential support helicopter.

More than 4,000 H-60s have been produced and are operating with the armed forces of Japan, Turkey, Israel, and Columbia among others, but the UH-60 gained worldwide fame from the 2001 film Black Hawk Down.


Terry Moore

Robinson R-22: The Best-Selling, Low-Cost Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: 1975

Frank Robinson was inspired to embark on a rotary-wing career upon seeing a newspaper photo of Igor Sikorsky hovering in his VS300 prototype. After stints as an engineer at Cessna, Kaman and Hughes, he struck out on his own in 1973, determined to build and market a small, low-cost helicopter.

California-based Robinson Helicopter Company perfected the low-inertia rotor system design of the R-22 in the 1970s, receiving FAA certification in 1979. The lightweight, two-seat, piston-powered R-22 proved perfect as a primary rotary-wing flight trainer, surveying and cattle management tool. Its 150 hp Lycoming O-320 air-cooled four cylinder runs well on inexpensive 100LL aviation gas and the ability to literally tow the helicopter on a trailer behind a pickup truck made it immensely popular, inspiring a family of variants including the R-44 and R-66.

Nearly 5,000 R-22s had been produced by 2015, and in 2016 a new one cost approximately $290,000, a fraction of the price of other civilian helicopters.


ullstein bild



Mil Mi-26: The Largest Series Production Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: December 14, 1977

Reflecting Russia's taste for gigantic things, the Rostvertol Mil Mi-26 is the world's biggest production helicopter. Designed in the 1970s as a heavy-lift transport for military equipment from amphibious-armored personnel carriers to mobile ballistic missiles, the Mi-26 also serves civilian operators in roles from aerial firefighting to lifting outsize freight including a 25-ton block of frozen soil encasing a preserved, 23,000-year-old Woolly Mammoth.

The Mi-26's eight-blade main rotor is a 105 feet in diameter and converts 22,800 shaft-horsepower from two Lotarev D-136 turbines to thrust. Its tail rotor is about the size of the main rotor of an MD500 light helicopter. The Mil has the load capability of a C-130 with an internal payload of 44,000 lbs (20 tons). It retains the world record for the greatest mass lifted to 2,000 meters (6,562 ft) with125,153.8 lbs in 1982. In 2002, Uncle Sam leased an Mi-26 from a Canadian firm to lift a U.S. Army MH-47E Chinook helicopter (huge in its own right) from a mountain in Afghanistan.


Dmitry Terekhov

Northrop-Grumman MQ-8: The First Operational Autonomous Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: 2002

The idea of ship-launched aircraft as scouts for Navy vessels dates to before WWI. Not until the Northrop-Grumman MQ-8B deployed aboard the US Navy frigate, McInerney (FFG-8) in 2010 was an autonomous, unmanned rotary-wing scout aircraft operational.

The RQ-8/MQ-8 arose from the Navy's need to replace aging RQ-2 Pioneer fixed-wing UAV systems. With unmanned systems performing everything from reconnaissance to strike by the late 1990s, the Navy wanted these capabilities in a relatively large unmanned vertical launch/recovery aircraft.

In 2000, Northrop Grumman's Schweizer Model 330-based design was selected. Developed as the reconnaissance-focused RQ-8A, it met the Navy's range, endurance, and payload goals (125 NM/3 hours/200 lbs) but interest waned until the Army saw merit in the design which evolved into the more capable MQ-8B in 2003. A decade later, the Navy had taken lead again and the Fire Scout/Sea Scout was operating in Afghanistan, in Africa, from Frigates, Littoral Combat Ships, and Coast Guard cutters.

In September 2012 a Fire Scout set a single-day record, providing ISR coverage for a 24-hour period over the course of 10 flights.


Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alan Gragg/U.S. Navy

Eurocopter X3: The World's Fastest Helicopter

• 
  

First flight: September 6, 2010

The Eurocopter (Airbus Helicopters) X3 is a hybrid helicopter which combines a traditional main rotor powered by two Turbomeca RTM322 turboshafts with a pair of stub wing-mounted propellers to provide additional forward thrust. Each stub wing prop has a different pitch to counteract the torque of the main rotor thereby providing additional directional stability.

With this configuration and with a highly drag-efficient fairing over the shaft and gearbox below the main rotor, the X3 sprinted to 255 knots (293 mph) at 10,000 feet in 2013. That's the fastest speed ever recorded by what could be called a helicopter. Since the X3 is based on the popular Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, it fits the definition and its importance lies in signifying what the helicopter may become.

The X3 was a candidate for the U.S. Army's Armed Aerial Scout requirement but it wasn't selected. Eurocopter/Airbus see future applications for the X3's technology in the offshore oil market and high speed inter-city shuttle services to landing venues not usable by fixed-wing turboprops.


Paul J. Richards

 

[rohit b3]

cont....
Bell 206 JetRanger: The Civilian Chopper

First flight: December 8, 1962

The Bell JetRanger is instantly recognizable to almost anyone raised in the West, a presence in the skies, on television, in films, and in newspapers for five decades. Whether chasing 55 mph-disdaining speeders in the 1970s, providing live local TV news pictures, transporting emergency medical patients, or shuttling celebrities to events, the Bell 206 family has defined the light corporate helicopter.

Ironically it was born as a military aircraft in the 1960s in response to a requirement for a light observation helicopter. Bell's D-250 twin blade, single turbine prototype (YOH-4A) lost out to the Hughes OH-6 but the company chose to market it as a civilian aircraft, self-funding development of the redesigned, larger 206A which first flew in 1966. By 1973 over 1,000 had been sold on the civil market and the Army had chosen it as a new observation helicopter (OH-58A) while the Navy selected it as a training helicopter (TH-57A).

Subsequent LongRanger variants increased performance and capacity and over 7,300 have been built. In 1982 a 206L completed the first around-the-world helicopter flight in 29 days.

Radosław Drożdżewski
Bell AH-1 Cobra: The First Dedicated Attack Helicopter

First flight: September 7, 1965

Attack helicopters are a staple of advanced armies, but it wasn't until the Vietnam conflict that a truly purpose-built attack helicopter – the AH-1 Cobra—was fielded.

The Army's creation of Air Cavalry Brigades in the early 60s included a requirement for a dedicated attack helicopter. An Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFS) program posited a sophisticated, heavily armored machine. Bell had shown the Army a light attack design (D-255 Iroquois Warrior) based on the Huey in 1962. Though not selected for AAFS, Bell continued work on the concept.

By 1965 the Army sought an interim gunship for Vietnam duty and Bell responded with its Model 209, dubbed "Cobra". The Cobra featured a narrow forward fuselage with stub-wings and a fighter jet-like stepped-up tandem seating for the gunner (in front) and pilot (behind), a configuration seen in nearly all attack helicopters today. It borrowed components from the UH-1 Huey including its main rotor, turboshaft engine, transmission, tail boom, empennage, and tail rotor.

Designated AH-1, the Cobra debuted during the 1968 Tet offensive. In addition to escorting transport helicopters and forming "hunter/killer" teams with scout helicopters, it performed a rescue, picking up a downed F-100 Super Sabre pilot who clung to its gun panel door until over friendly territory. The AH-1 inspired attack helicopter designs worldwide and remains in service with the U.S. Marine Corps as the AH-1Z Viper.

Getty sierrarat
Westland Lynx: The First Fully Aerobatic Helicopter

First flight: March 21, 1971

While the Huey dominated the medium utility/attack market in the late 1960s-early 1970s, Europe looked to develop its own competitors. British manufacturer, Westland, came up with its WG.13 in the late 60s, intended as a replacement for its previous designs, and to challenge the Huey.

Initially folded into a joint Anglo-French development program, the WG.13 soon devolved to a purely British effort as a naval attack platform. Following its first flight in March1971, the Lynx showed the benefits of its special main rotor design which allowed it to perform loops, rolls, and handle much like a fixed-wing aircraft. It was also fast, setting a speed record in 1972 at 199.9 mph.

The Lynx debuted in British Army/Navy service in the late 1970s in transport, armed escort, anti-tank, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and other roles and flew during the Falklands War and in Iraq. In 1986, a modified Lynx set a new speed record at 249 mph. The basic Lynx design has evolved into the Augusta Westland AW159 military helicopter.

Heb

Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk: The Modern Huey

First flight: October 17, 1974

The Army was already looking to replace the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey in the late 1960s launching the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program around a common turbine engine (GE's T700). Sikorsky came up with the S-70, a twin engine design it put forward as the YUH-60A for UTTAS. The first prototype flew in October 1974, besting Boeing's YUH-61A in a flyoff competition.

It would become the UH-60 Black Hawk – named after a Native American warrior. It entered service in 1979 as the Army's new assault/utility helicopter. During its development, the Navy was evaluating replacements for its SH-2 Sea Sprite search and rescue/maritime warfare helicopter. Favoring common acquisition with the Army, the Navy chose Sikorsky's UH-60-based design as the SH-60B Seahawk in 1978. These choices spawned a family of H-60 models including the Coast Guard Jayhawk, special operations Pave Hawk and VH-60N presidential support helicopter.

More than 4,000 H-60s have been produced and are operating with the armed forces of Japan, Turkey, Israel, and Columbia among others, but the UH-60 gained worldwide fame from the 2001 film Black Hawk Down.


Terry Moore

Robinson R-22: The Best-Selling, Low-Cost Helicopter

First flight: 1975

Frank Robinson was inspired to embark on a rotary-wing career upon seeing a newspaper photo of Igor Sikorsky hovering in his VS300 prototype. After stints as an engineer at Cessna, Kaman and Hughes, he struck out on his own in 1973, determined to build and market a small, low-cost helicopter.

California-based Robinson Helicopter Company perfected the low-inertia rotor system design of the R-22 in the 1970s, receiving FAA certification in 1979. The lightweight, two-seat, piston-powered R-22 proved perfect as a primary rotary-wing flight trainer, surveying and cattle management tool. Its 150 hp Lycoming O-320 air-cooled four cylinder runs well on inexpensive 100LL aviation gas and the ability to literally tow the helicopter on a trailer behind a pickup truck made it immensely popular, inspiring a family of variants including the R-44 and R-66.

Nearly 5,000 R-22s had been produced by 2015, and in 2016 a new one cost approximately $290,000, a fraction of the price of other civilian helicopters.


ullstein bild



Mil Mi-26: The Largest Series Production Helicopter

First flight: December 14, 1977

Reflecting Russia's taste for gigantic things, the Rostvertol Mil Mi-26 is the world's biggest production helicopter. Designed in the 1970s as a heavy-lift transport for military equipment from amphibious-armored personnel carriers to mobile ballistic missiles, the Mi-26 also serves civilian operators in roles from aerial firefighting to lifting outsize freight including a 25-ton block of frozen soil encasing a preserved, 23,000-year-old Woolly Mammoth.

The Mi-26's eight-blade main rotor is a 105 feet in diameter and converts 22,800 shaft-horsepower from two Lotarev D-136 turbines to thrust. Its tail rotor is about the size of the main rotor of an MD500 light helicopter. The Mil has the load capability of a C-130 with an internal payload of 44,000 lbs (20 tons). It retains the world record for the greatest mass lifted to 2,000 meters (6,562 ft) with125,153.8 lbs in 1982. In 2002, Uncle Sam leased an Mi-26 from a Canadian firm to lift a U.S. Army MH-47E Chinook helicopter (huge in its own right) from a mountain in Afghanistan.


Dmitry Terekhov

Northrop-Grumman MQ-8: The First Operational Autonomous Helicopter

First flight: 2002

The idea of ship-launched aircraft as scouts for Navy vessels dates to before WWI. Not until the Northrop-Grumman MQ-8B deployed aboard the US Navy frigate, McInerney (FFG-8) in 2010 was an autonomous, unmanned rotary-wing scout aircraft operational.

The RQ-8/MQ-8 arose from the Navy's need to replace aging RQ-2 Pioneer fixed-wing UAV systems. With unmanned systems performing everything from reconnaissance to strike by the late 1990s, the Navy wanted these capabilities in a relatively large unmanned vertical launch/recovery aircraft.

In 2000, Northrop Grumman's Schweizer Model 330-based design was selected. Developed as the reconnaissance-focused RQ-8A, it met the Navy's range, endurance, and payload goals (125 NM/3 hours/200 lbs) but interest waned until the Army saw merit in the design which evolved into the more capable MQ-8B in 2003. A decade later, the Navy had taken lead again and the Fire Scout/Sea Scout was operating in Afghanistan, in Africa, from Frigates, Littoral Combat Ships, and Coast Guard cutters.

In September 2012 a Fire Scout set a single-day record, providing ISR coverage for a 24-hour period over the course of 10 flights.


Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alan Gragg/U.S. Navy

Eurocopter X3: The World's Fastest Helicopter

First flight: September 6, 2010

The Eurocopter (Airbus Helicopters) X3 is a hybrid helicopter which combines a traditional main rotor powered by two Turbomeca RTM322 turboshafts with a pair of stub wing-mounted propellers to provide additional forward thrust. Each stub wing prop has a different pitch to counteract the torque of the main rotor thereby providing additional directional stability.

With this configuration and with a highly drag-efficient fairing over the shaft and gearbox below the main rotor, the X3 sprinted to 255 knots (293 mph) at 10,000 feet in 2013. That's the fastest speed ever recorded by what could be called a helicopter. Since the X3 is based on the popular Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, it fits the definition and its importance lies in signifying what the helicopter may become.

The X3 was a candidate for the U.S. Army's Armed Aerial Scout requirement but it wasn't selected. Eurocopter/Airbus see future applications for the X3's technology in the offshore oil market and high speed inter-city shuttle services to landing venues not usable by fixed-wing turboprops.


Paul J. Richards

Where's the Helicopter with the highest service ceiling? ;
Ignore such articles. They are made by the west, for the west.

 

[indiatester]

Where's the Helicopter with the highest service ceiling? ;
Ignore such articles. They are made by the west, for the west.

The article itself was not interesting. But the lead in picture was that of Dhruv ... so feel good factor ;-)

 

[TPFscopes]

Its good for quick extraction or insertion and dropping supplies ..

Another pic for HAL Dhruv 's rear entrance access

 

[TPFscopes]

Close views of HAL DHRUV's main rotor and rear rotor

 

[Prashant12]

India eyes Dhruv’s foreign market

Soaring high: Over 200 Dhruv helicopters are being used by the Indian military.

In talks with Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian nations; emphasis on maintenance

As part of efforts to enhance defence cooperation and boost exports with friendly countries, India is in discussions with Sri Lanka and several Southeast Asian nations for the supply of Dhruv, the indigenously developed advanced light helicopter (ALH).

Supplying defence equipment and providing assistance in setting up domestic manufacturing capability have become the new normal in India’s defence cooperation with regional countries.

“There are queries … There is talk with Vietnam, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for ALH,” T. Suvarna Raju, Chief Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), told The Hindu.

Another official said discussions with Indonesia were progressing well. Officials from India were expected to visit Jakarta in April.

This time, India is putting specific emphasis on maintenance and training in view of its experience of Dhruv sales to Ecuador, which got embroiled in legal issues.

Amid much fanfare in 2009, India bagged a deal to supply seven of these helicopters to Ecuador worth $45.2 million after defeating several global platforms. However, the euphoria was short-lived as four of them crashed. In October 2015, Ecuador unilaterally terminated the contract and in 2016, put the three helicopters on sale. Following this, HAL had moved a local court there. Of the four crashes, two had been attributed to pilot error and one to mechanical failure.

Availability of spares

Dhruv, designed and developed by the HAL, is powered by the Shakti engine jointly developed by it and Turbomeca of France. Over 200 helicopters are in service with the Indian military.

The three Services have constantly complained about lack of spares and support for the fleet. The situation has slightly improved in recent times.

“We have started mini maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities at forward bases where we man them and stock spares and line replaceable units for use. We do a clean exchange when required,” Mr. Raju said. These attempts to stock the spares and supply them as quickly as possible has brought serviceability to “more than 65% to 70%”, he said.

To increase the delivery rate, the HAL recently set up a second assembly line in Kanpur, which is expected to produce 12 helicopters a year.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-eyes-dhruvs-foreign-market/article17668821.ece

 

[Prashant12]

Narendra Modi governments Rs 8,000 crore plan for home-made choppers

• 1 The helicopters will be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
• 2 32 choppers will be built.
• 3 The forces are scheduled to get their first machine in the year 2020.

Providing a major boost to the maritime security capabilities of the Navy and Coast Guard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared a proposal worth around Rs 8,000 crore for acquiring 32 made in India ALH Dhruv helicopters to be built by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

"In a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the proposal to acquire these choppers meant for coastal and maritime security worth around Rs 8,000 crore was given clearance," Defence Ministry sources told MAIL TODAY here.

Of the 32 choppers to be built by the HAL, 16 each would be shared by the two services.

PROJECT UNDER MAKE IN INDIA PROGRAMME

"The project will be under the Make in India programme being spearheaded by the Prime Minister himself and state-owned HAL would not only provide the helicopters but also develop the infrastructure for operations of these helicopters in both the services," the sources said.

Incidentally, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) clearance for the project had also come in 2014 when Arun Jaitley was given the charge of Defence Ministry for the first time and the final approval has also come at a time when he is holding the office after Manohar Parrikar's departure to Goa.

At the moment, the Indian Navy has deployed its fleet of the ALH Dhruv helicopters in Kochi at its base INS Garuda but has now plans HAL to develop base for operations of 32 copters of deploying the fresh fleet at different bases across the coast line.

The Coast Guard has these twin-engine helicopters at its different bases for carrying out search and rescue and coastal surveillance missions.

"The Navy is also planning to equip the choppers with some low frequency SONARs which would be developed by the force with the help of an advanced DRDO laboratory," the sources said.

FIRST DELIVERY IN 2020

After the signing of the contract, the forces are scheduled to get their first machine in the year 2020 and the last helicopter is scheduled to be provided to them by 2022, the sources said.

The ALH is being employed for a variety of missions including advanced search and rescue, special heli-borne, armed patrol, VVIP ferrying and transport operations by the Navy.

The 16 helicopters being provided to the Navy would help it in meeting some of the operational gaps created due to the lack of new helicopters as projects have either been retracted or are stuck at different levels.

The Navy requires over 145 multirole helicopters (MRHs) with antisubmarine warfare capabilities, without which its warships are virtually defenceless against enemy submarines, and 110 twin-engine naval light utility helicopters (NUHs) to replace obsolete singleengine Chetaks.

India is one of the largest importers of arms and military platforms globally. The government has been focusing significantly on promoting defence indigenisation by taking a slew of reform initiatives including liberalising FDI in defence sector.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...s-hindustan-aeronautics-limited/1/914372.html

 

[tejas warrior]

After the signing of the contract, the forces are scheduled to get their first machine in the year 2020 and the last helicopter is scheduled to be provided to them by 2022

It means HAL has confirmed orders for Dhruv till 2022 now with minimum production rate of 35/yr.

 

[abingdonboy]

It means HAL has confirmed orders for Dhruv till 2022 now with minimum production rate of 35/yr.

ALH production won't cease before 2027 IMHO, there is still plenty of demand within India let alone abroad.

 

[tharun]

8000 crores for 32 choppers....that's 38$ million a piece?

 

[Bloom17]

did the navy order any? what is the status on navy's requirement for asw role helicopters?

 

[Prashant12]

#HAL announces Performance Based Contracting for hepters. Rs 8,000 cr plan for 16 Dhruvs each to #IndianNavy & #IndianCoastGuard cleared.

 

[Prashant12]

Dhruv ASW in 2008

Dhruv ASW in 2017

 

[aditya g]

So helicopter shortage at least partially being addressed through 8 chetaks , 16 dhruvs and ka-27 upgrade.

What stopped us making at least chetaks for time being? For every destroyer with 2 hangars we could have filled at least 1 empty slot with MATCH chetaks.

 

[tejas warrior]

In a first, HAL assures 75% availability of Dhruv fleet

Ajai Shukla

http://wap.business-standard.com/ar...ailability-of-dhruv-fleet-117033001194_1.html

 

[abingdonboy]

Dhruv ASW in 2008

Dhruv ASW in 2017

Are you sure that pic is from 2017?


+ I wouldn't get one's hopes up, I don't think the 16 ALH for the IN are for the ASW role, mostly SAR and utility roles most likely.