HAL Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

shiv

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what type of incompetent fools do we have running all over our MEA......

with this order of dhruv our exports would have risen10-20%,plus we would have a new military export destination.

i think the babu would have just dumped the file on seeing the name bolivia on it,the fool wouldnt even know where this country is.
 

venom

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ALH Dhruv

Hindustan's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) programme was 1st announced in Nov 1984,the ALH was designed with assistance from MBB in Germany.It followed a similar layout to that of the BK-117 although it is a larger aircraft. The twin 1000shp Turbomeca TM333-2B turboshafts are mounted above the cabin and drive a four-blade composite main rotor.The ALH makes use of an advanced integrated dynamic system which combines several rotor control features into an integrated module. The civil prototype ALH (Z-3182) first flew on 23 Aug 1992,at Bangalore,followed by a second civil aircraft (Z-3183),an Army version (Z-3268) and a navalised prototype (N.901) with Allied Signal CTS800 engines and a retractable tricycle undercarriage.Even after the first prototype flew in August 1992,problems arose due to the changing demands of the Indian military, unding,and contractual issues with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, which was the consultant for design. Further delay was caused by U.S. sanctions after Indian nuclear tests in 1998, which embargoed the engine originally intended to power the helicopter. Then the helicopter used Turbomeca TM 333-2B2 turboshaft producing 746 kW (1000 SHP) each and an agreement was signed with Turbomeca to develop a more powerful engine.

A Weapon System Integrated (WSI) Dhruv is under development for the Indian Military services.It will have stub wings fitted to carry up to eight anti-armour missiles, four air-to-air missiles or four rocket pods for 70mm and 68mm rockets.The WSI variant will also have FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared), CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera and a target acquisition system with thermal sight and laser rangefinder.

In December 2006, Nexter Systems (formerly Giat) was awarded a contract for the installation of the THL 20 20mm gun turret on the first 20 Indian forces Dhruv helicopters. The turret is armed with the M621 low-recoil cannon and is combined with a helmet-mounted sight.

The helicopter was fitted with the more powerful Shakti engine developed jointly by HAL and Turbomeca, and now entering production.The first test flight of the Dhruv with the new engine and the weaponised version took place on 16 August 2007.The naval version of the helicopter is fitted with the Mihir dunking SONAR which is integrated with the Helicopter Fire Control System.

One of only three helicopter display teams in the world, the Sarang aerobatic display team of the Indian Air Force performs with four Dhruv helicopters.

The Dhruv is capable of flying at high altitudes, a crucial requirement for the Army, which requires helicopters for operations in Siachen Glacier and Kashmir.In September 2007,the Dhruv was cleared for high-altitude flying in the Siachen Sector after six-month long trials.In October 2007,a Dhruv flew to an altitude of 27,500 feet (8,400 m) ASL in Siachen. This was the highest that the Dhruv had flown, and was higher than the 25,000 feet (7,600 m) record set by an IAF Cheetah helicopter in 2005.

A further order for 166 helicopters were placed with HAL since the helicopter is working well in higher altitude areas with the Indian Army.The Armed Forces may order 12 ambulances versions for use by the Armed Forces Medical Services for MEDEVAC operations . HAL Dhruv ambulances will have all the emergency medical equipment for the treatment of injured soldiers.

CURRENT VERSIONS:

Air force/army: Skid gear, crashworthy fuel tanks, bulletproof supply tanks, IR and flame suppression; night attack capability; roles to include attack and SAR.

Naval: Retractable tricycle gear, harpoon decklock, pressure refuelling; fairings on fuselage sides to house mainwheels, flotation gear and batteries.

Coast Guard: High commonality with naval version; nose-mounted surveillance radar; roof-mounted FLIR; starboard side, cabin-mounted 7.62mm machine gun; radar console and operator's seat; liferaft, loudhailer.

Foreign sales

The Dhruv has become the first major Indian weapons system to have secured large foreign sales. HAL hopes to sell 120 Dhruvs over the next 8 years,and has been displaying the Dhruv at airshows,including Farnborough and Paris in order to market the Dhruv.

With a unit price at least 15% less than its rivals,Dhruv has elicited interest in many countries, mostly from Latin America,Africa,West Asia,South East Asia and the Pacific Rim nations.Air forces from around 35 countries have sent in their inquiries,along with requests for demonstrations.

The first foreign orders for the Dhruv were placed by Nepal in early 2004,for 2 Dhruvs.Another Dhruv, a civilian version, was leased to the Israeli Defense Ministry in 2004

In June 2008,the government of Peru ordered two air ambulance Dhruvs for use by the Peruvian health services.Peru has also shown interest in the military version Dhruv.

HAL also secured an order from the Ecuadorian Air Force for seven Dhruvs. HAL has gained this order amidst strong competition from Elbit, Eurocopter and Kazan.HAL’s offer of $ 50.7 million for seven helicopters was about 32% lower than the second lowest bid from Elbit.Five helicopters will be delivered in February 2009, during the Aero India 2009. The remaining two helicopters will be delivered within six months Ecuadorian Army and Ecuadorian Navy have also expressed unofficial interest in purchasing the helicopter.

Dhruv also participated in a Chilean tender for eight to ten 5.5 tonne, twin engined new generation helicopter, but lost to the Bell Helicopters Bell 412 amid allegations of arm-twisting by the US Government.The evaluation included flights at high altitudes, hot and desert conditions, ship deck landing, search and rescue at 12,500 feet (3,800 m) MSL at a temperature of 2°C as well as long distance ferry flights, clocking 107 flying hours.

On August 10, 2008 HAL chairman confirmed it had finalized a deal with Turkey to supply 3 Dhruvs for $20 million. Turkey is planning to buy as many as 17 helicopters in medical assistance role.

India is also reportedly planning to transfer several Dhruvs to Myanmar. This led to protests from Amnesty International, who pointed to the use of components sourced from European suppliers as a possible violation of the EU Arms Embargo of Myanmar.In a letter to the President of the EU Council of Ministers, Amnesty stated that it had evidence that India planned to transfer two Dhruvs (with European components) to Burma.These reports have been denied by the Indian Government.

HAL is negotiating with Bolivia for delivery of five Dhruvs and with Venezuela for seven of the choppers in transport roles, and in Europe.The Dhruv is also being offered to Malaysia.Indonesia is also evaluating Dhruv helicopters for the Indonesian Army.

Flight certification for Europe and North America is also being planned, in order to tap the large civilian market there.
 

I-G

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CAG blasts Dhruv project, Krasnopol purchase

CAG blasts Dhruv project, Krasnopol purchase
11 Jul 2009, 0047 hrs IST, TNN


NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General has punched gaping holes in several crucial defence projects and deals, ranging from the indigenous
Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter to the hasty purchase of `defective' Krasnopol artillery ammunition for the Bofors 155mm howitzers from Russia.

Severely indicting the defence ministry for grave lapses, the latest CAG report said "technological gaps in design and development'' of the much-touted Dhruvs by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd had "remained unresolved'' even after the lapse of two decades.

Consequently, the 40 Dhruvs being inducted by Army under a Rs 1,747 crore contract in March 2006 have the "technical shortcoming" of not being able to fly over 5,000-metre altitude, even though the Army had wanted them to have the capability to fly over 6,500 metres.

"Successive attempts to improve the performance of Dhruv's engine have not ensured its reliability in high-altitude areas affecting Army's operational preparedness,'' said CAG.

To compound problems, another Rs 9,490 crore contract for 105 more Dhruvs was inked with HAL in December 2007. This despite its newly-developed `Shakti' engine also being found to be "deficient in power".

All this has led to considerable delay in de-induction of the old Cheetah and Chetak fleets, adversely affecting operations in high-altitude areas in forward locations.

CAG also blasted MoD for procuring 3,000 Krasnapol terminally-guided munitions (TGMs) and 81 laser-designators, from Russia for Rs 526 crore "without necessary trial evaluation'' and "adherence to prescribed norms''.

Krasnapol, incidentally, was supposed to a `smart weapon' fired from the Bofors guns to destroy enemy tanks, high-value mechanised forces and static pinpoint targets.

But it proved to be a complete dud during testing at high altitudes, as it was woefully short on both range and accuracy. "Such procurement of defective quality ammunition adversely impact the Army's operational preparedness,'' said CAG.

CAG blasts Dhruv project, Krasnopol purchase - India - The Times of India
 

venkat

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CAG is another face of redtapism! HAL has already modified Dhruv's with the new shakthi /ardiden engines. These could be the older versions of Dhruvs! HAL should sue CAG!

JMT! Can anybody sue CAG?:blum3:
 

p2prada

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CAG is another face of redtapism! HAL has already modified Dhruv's with the new shakthi /ardiden engines. These could be the older versions of Dhruvs! HAL should sue CAG!

JMT! Can anybody sue CAG?:blum3:
Naaa. CAG is right. These are the old versions of Dhruv. As long as HAL does not modify the old Dhruvs with new engines, they will face the CAG heat.
 

venom

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HAL forms unified helicopter complex to cater to growing business

ALH is the key and focus will be on further increasing the serviceability of the machine


Our Bureau

Bangalore, June 23 Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has recast all its helicopter-related activities that were spread across units under a new, unified Helicopter Complex.

Mr R. Srinivasan, based in Bangalore, has taken over as Managing Director of the complex in a newly created post and is due to join the HAL board shortly.
Umbrella unit

Mr Srinivasan will head five divisions: Helicopter, Helicopter MRO, Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre, Composite Manufacturing and the Barrackpore Division (that used to do overhauling), a company release said.

“The new position has been created to bring all helicopter design, development and manufacturing activities under one umbrella,” it said.

A spokesman said, “All the islands (related to helicopters) have been connected and these divisions will be interacting with customers more (than before).”

This will be the company’s fifth complex.

For the Rs 10,800-crore HAL, the civil-cum-military helicopter business led by its star product, the Dhruv advanced light helicopter (AHL), has just started growing in the country and overseas.

Mr Srinivasan, who joined HAL in 1972 after a master’s degree in engineering from the UK, was quoted as saying, “ALH is the key and I will be focussing on further increasing the serviceability of this machine so that all the customers get what they want without delays. On the civil front, too, we will have to make (deeper) inroads and that will top my agenda.”

Prior to the elevation, he was General Manager, Helicopter MRO.

HAL’s helicopter programmes include light combat helicopter (LCH), the light observation helicopter (LOH) and the medium lift helicopter – or, simply, copters for combat and observation.

It also has designs on the civil market for offshore oil rigs, heli-tourism, corporates, VVIPs, medical travel and disaster-time evacuations.
Competition Up

Competition in the sector is intensifying.

The Tata group, for example, has entered this space through tie-ups with old rotary warhorses – US-based Sikorsky and European Agusta Westland.

With Agusta, it plans to assemble AW119 copters in Pune for surveillance and reconnaissance.

With Sikorsky, it has said it will build cabins for the S-92 helicopters from a facility in Hyderabad.

Until a year or two ago, the copter division contributed around 15 per cent of HAL’s revenue.

The business is looking up, HAL’s previous Chairman, Mr Ashok Baweja, had said during the February Aero India; with Rs 16,000-crore worth orders for 260 Dhruvs for the Army, Air Force, the BSF and other paramilitary forces; Rs 2,000-crore orders for five to seven ALHs from the Ecuador Air Force; Turkey, Suriname and others.

HAL plans to set up a maintenance and marketing centre at Ecuador’s capital, Quito, to chase more Latin American orders.

On the military side, the Ministry of Defence is due to re-tender a 197-copter, Rs 17,000-crore purchase deal. When that comes through, HAL will be the manufacturing partner.

The Hindu Business Line : HAL forms unified helicopter complex to cater to growing business
 

venom

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HAL set to test fly upgraded Dhruv

Within days of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India having rapped Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for slow progress on the Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH), a company team has set up base in eastern Ladakh. Its mission - to test fly a new and a more powerful version of the chopper.

The multirole weapon system helicopter will be test flown by HAL pilots within this week and factors like clear skies will decide the final date of the trial. A team from the French firm Turbomeca, manufacturer of low to medium power gas turbines for helicopters, is also camping in Leh and so are HAL flight and safety department personnel, sources told The Tribune.

The chopper will be fitted with a new engine named ‘Shakti.’ The test will also establish if it can take the specified weapon load as desired by the army for the ALH’s ‘attack’ version.

The test was planned to go ahead even before the CAG report was released on July 10. A HAL team had visited the location for an initial assessment about three weeks ago.

HAL’s target is to fly the helicopter at an altitude higher than 6,500 metres (23,000 feet or more). In its report released in Parliament CAG had said: “The upgraded version of the ALH equipped with a more powerful engine is still not ready”. The existing version, a few dozen of which have been supplied to the Indian Army, cannot fly at a height of over 17,500 feet, whereas the army wants a chopper that can go up to at least 23,000 feet.

The altitude at which a chopper flies is critical for the Indian armed forces and is a key aspect for dominance in eastern Ladakh on the Sino-Indian border and the Siachen glacier besides other high Himalayan peaks in Himachal, Uttrakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The CAG report had pointed this out, noting the army was using obsolete Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, which it said might adversely impact its operational preparedness.

HAL is confident about the success of the upcoming test, as it has been regularly flying the ALH fitted with the new Shakti engine at a height of 6,000 metres over Bangalore. However, the rarefied air at that altitude makes it difficult for landing a chopper and then taking off. More thrust is needed and the thin air adds to problems like loss of engine power while each gram of weight counts.

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation
 

mig-29

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longbow hellfire for weaponized Dhruv?

Lockheed-Martin is looking to engage Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in a bid to push the AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire chopper-launched anti-armour missile system for the weaponised Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, also called the Dhruv-WSI (weapons systems integrated). The proposal is charted out as one of Lockheed's long-term proposals for India, though the company confirms that "[HAL] requires large quantities of Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) systems to be installed on its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) for the Indian Army requirement. This opportunity is being developed in consultation with the USG and GOI."

The Indian Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) has been cleared for production for the Indian Army in the ground-launched variant, though the Helina (HELIcopter-launched NAg) will take atleast another 18 months to be ready for operations and integration on the Dhruv-WSI. The Helina, incidentally, has similar stated range and other parameters to the Longbow Hellfire. The missile is expected to enter its live test phase this November. The Army has 104 Dhruv choppers on order from HAL at the moment.


LiveFist - The Best of Indian Defence: Longbow Hellfire For Weaponised Dhruv?
 
J

John

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well i wonder why Hellfires because Helina will have 8-10km range as well, what we need is upgraded laser guided 70mm Hydra rockets with 12km range, we dont have guided 70mm rockets, this would be gr8. We simply need to focus on Helina, test and induct it quickly. We need to order laser guided 70mm Hydra rockets for LCH, Dhruv and in the future the Apache when it wins the attack helo deal.
 

Arun thevar

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well i wonder why Hellfires because Helina will have 8-10km range as well, what we need is upgraded laser guided 70mm Hydra rockets with 12km range, we dont have guided 70mm rockets, this would be gr8. We simply need to focus on Helina, test and induct it quickly. We need to order laser guided 70mm Hydra rockets for LCH, Dhruv and in the future the Apache when it wins the attack helo deal.
Brother the fact is that this news has left even me think whats happening aroud,actully this was the same that i felt when i heard of the israeli sams being ordered for the low-level qick reaction roles when we had our own akash systems which had a better range and almost matched all the parameters perfectly and could have easily updated in a timely manner,but it was only ordered for 2sqds,now its this that makes me iritat of the IAF & IA as compared to IN.there level of involment and association with the research organisations is not even comparable to that of IN.HUMM.I hope the HELINA dosem\nt turn out to be the story of akash,arjun etc.etc :viannen_51::suicide_fool-edit:
 

Sridhar

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Tuesday, 15 September 2009

More on the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH)

Lots of responses to the LCH overweight article! That was a news article, so it had only pure reporting, but here are some of my views.


600 kg overweight is a huge problem. It means that a helicopter that was to have an empty weight of 2500 kg has gone overweight by almost 25%.


Forget what ASRs say! The LCH has been designed specifically for India’s high altitude conditions. It takes off from altitudes of 3 kilometers (9800 feet), loiters and operates at altitudes of up to 5 kilometers (16,400 feet), and engages targets like UAVs that are flying at altitudes of up to 6.5 kilometers (21,300 feet). At those altitudes, 600 kg extra is a killer. No question about that.


Prasun, Seshadri’s statement is quite clear. He indicates that the total payload at 20,000 feet will be some 350-500 kg. The cannon and its turret are not payload. They are a part of the helicopter fitment. Their ammunition, however, is payload. As are the missiles, rockets (the pods are not payload, they are fitment), etc.


Some weight will come off the LCH by using lighter material for the fuel tanks. That’s fine. Some will come off by using ceramics instead of metal for instrument panels etc. That’s fine too. But what is not fine is that some of the weight could come off by reducing armour protection.


Defence Materials Research Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad has developed the armour for the LCH from ceramic plates. The pilots’ area was designed to withstand a direct hit at 90 degrees from a 12.7 mm armour-piercing round. To put that in perspective (Perspex-tive… Ha! Ha!) some of the IAF Mi-35s, which were deployed in Congo, took hits from 12.7 mm AP rounds. They penetrated right through the armoured glass of the Mi-35. And that’s a much heavier machine.


The landing gear cannot be lightened anytime soon. It has a crash-resistance capability of 10.5 m/sec, which the IAF considers absolutely necessary. I agree with them.


Lots of things that bloggers have written about the Comanche are correct. But every cancelled project has a whole mythology of reasons for why it got cancelled. In the final balance, the Comanche was cancelled, not because the Soviet Union went away, but because it was turning out to be a hugely expensive development programme that was eating up time and money.


The cost of the LCH programme, it would be worth noting, is less than the cost of the compensation paid to Boeing-Sikorsky for terminating the Comanche development. Think about that.


And the figure of 179 LCHs includes the 65 that the IAF is buying, while the army is interested in picking up 114 LCHs.

Broadsword: More on the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH)
 

venom

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There is no there Helo in the world which matches the performance of LCH at high altitude so it has to succeed ...failure is not an option as there in no alternative...
 

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