HAL Prachand - Light Combat Helicopter (LCH)

[blueblood]

LCH TD-2 modified for further testing.

TD-2 before modifications

Different stub wings and engine air intake. Also some kind kind of mini stub wings on the forward fuselage. Can anybody tell what is that?

 

[KS]

Different stub wings and engine air intake. Also some kind kind of mini stub wings on the forward fuselage. Can anybody tell what is that?

Optical illusion. Look carefully....

 

[blueblood]

Optical illusion. Look carefully....

Look for the shadow on the ground.

 

[Shaitan]

Those are sensors. For the flight testing.

 

[blueblood]

Those are sensors. For the flight testing.

Could be, but their position is a bit odd.

 

[Shaitan]

Could be, but their position is a bit odd.

They are sensors. The guy who works in the LCH-project and who posted the pictures said so.

 

[pmaitra]

Why did they make those wings angular?

	straight wings​	angled wings​
HAL LCH
Mi-8 and Mi-24/35

In Mil-24/35, they use angled wings, that also provide lift, along with the main rotors. However, the Soviets used to have flat wings in their earlier helicopters, such as Mil-8. I am speculating that angled wings prevent loss of lift when the helicopter is tilted. Is HAL LCH also following that design philosophy?

It is worth nothing that the latest Kamov-50 (see picture below) has gone back to straight wings, but I am not sure whether those wings are at all meant for providing lift. Regarding Mil-24/35, I am certain they are meant for lift.

Kamov-50:

Very interesting development!

 

[Adux]

trying to compare an aircraft coaxial rotors who always had straight wings, to a run of the mil design LCH regarding the issue of angled wings, special needs prefect makes me laugh.

 

[krazykreat]

nothing else

how do you do?

 

[Dark Sorrow]

Any ideas on crew protection/safety feature in case the chopper is shot down.

What is the missile like thing in the front on the refueling probe?

I am still finding FLIR on the top side less efficient, are there any chance that it may be moved to bottom side.
Any idea about the azimuth of the FLIR, its zoom capabilities and Friend and Foe detection.

 

[utubekhiladi]

Any ideas on crew protection/safety feature in case the chopper is shot down.

What is the missile like thing in the front on the refueling probe?

I am still finding FLIR on the top side less efficient, are there any chance that it may be moved to bottom side.
Any idea about the azimuth of the FLIR, its zoom capabilities and Friend and Foe detection.

yes, that's inflight refueling pod.

it has crash landing gear for high survivability and bullet proof glass cockpit that can stop small arms fire..

i think FLIR is in correct position. this will force the pilot to engage from safe distance instead of flying over the target. if u come close to hot zone, then chances of being hit by an RPG or AA gun increases by 85%.

there are great minds in IAF and in DRDO AND HAL. they know what they are doing there must be a good reason why flir is in that position,.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

They are working on this prototype..

Lets see when HAL will publish its photo officially..

 

[venkat]

U tube..its not IFR pod!!! its air data probe which measures LCH True air speed,indicated airspeed etc..... its a temporary installation to calibrate other air data probes.it will be removed after flight testing..so no question of it obstructing FLIR sensor.... This is as per Hari Nair explanation in BR!!!!

 

[Kunal Biswas]

What is the missile like thing in the front on the refueling probe?

yes, that's inflight refueling pod.

Its some kind of antenna, Saw similar antenna on fighter aircraft..

U tube..its not IFR pod!!! its air data probe which measures LCH True air speed,indicated airspeed etc..... its a temporary installation to calibrate other air data probes.it will be removed after flight testing..so no question of it obstructing FLIR sensor.... This is as per Hari Nair explanation in BR!!!!

Got the answer.. !!

 

[Adux]

that is a air data analyzer , not antena nor a IFR.

 

[utubekhiladi]

Cannons are for situations where you have expended all your missiles and it is imperative for you to stay in the battlefield. Perhaps when others in your squadron have missiles left and you need to support them. Other than that cannons are a waste of space and weight.

Scoring cannon kills is extremely difficult. It is a last resort weapon because the chances of you getting killed is also very high.

The American forces have comparatively many aircraft, so they can saturate the air with missiles. Other countries are not that lucky, so the need for a cannon is greater. Cannons are needed, but not essential.

Cannons are heavy and the ammo stores are large. Once missiles are expended the aircraft will run away. Cannons will be used very very rarely because of the high amount of risk involved. Even a top gun can lose his life to a rookie because of that.

Let me show you how easy and effective the cannons are. remember, unlike regulars ammos, cannons in gunship fire 20/30mm AP HE rounds. this rounds detonate like grenade upon impact. missiles are effective against fixed bunkers and infrastructures. missile can't do any good if your enemy are scattered all over the place. all gunships can easily carry upto 1100 rounds of ammo.

using HMS, pointing your canons and killing bad guys is piece of cake (even easier than video games).

per my opinion, cannons are far more effective against infantry and small vehicles compared to rockets.

 

[utubekhiladi]

Its some kind of antenna, Saw similar antenna on fighter aircraft..
Got the answer.. !!

U tube..its not IFR pod!!! its air data probe which measures LCH True air speed,indicated airspeed etc..... its a temporary installation to calibrate other air data probes.it will be removed after flight testing..so no question of it obstructing FLIR sensor.... This is as per Hari Nair explanation in BR!!!!

that is a air data analyzer , not antena nor a IFR.

why do they have to make data analyzer look like refueling pod

 

[Adux]

why do they have to make data analyzer look like refueling pod

Its not like a refueling pod, they have made it longer because, they wanted it be further away from the downwash and dirty air. the more longer you make it, the more thicker it has to be.

 

[pmaitra]

I wonder when they will install the landing gear fairings to reduce drag. That was one of the modifications declared by HAL, and is not there in this prototype. The curved surface of the stub wings gives the impression they will provide additional lift.

Regarding FLIR on the upper part of the nose, given the small size of the helicopter and the machinegun at the bottom, that seems to be the only place where the FLIR could have been installed.

Overall, it looks like it is going at a good pace and being perfected for high altitude warfare.

 

[pmaitra]

I am still finding FLIR on the top side less efficient, are there any chance that it may be moved to bottom side.
Any idea about the azimuth of the FLIR, its zoom capabilities and Friend and Foe detection.

i think FLIR is in correct position. this will force the pilot to engage from safe distance instead of flying over the target. if u come close to hot zone, then chances of being hit by an RPG or AA gun increases by 85%.

there are great minds in IAF and in DRDO AND HAL. they know what they are doing there must be a good reason why flir is in that position,.

The FLIR looks like in a bad position because the helicopter is parked. When it flies, it has alower incidence angle. In other words, when the helicopter is exactly vertical, the rocket pods point upwards, but when the helicopter flies, it usually flies nose down and the rocket pods are either horizontal or point slightly downwards.

The LCH can fly to extreme angles of 70-80 degrees nose down, demonstrating the maneuverability qualities of the aircraft and the power of the Shakti engine. Dr. Prasad Sampath, general manager of RWRDC, claimed the LCH as "probably the most agile design in the world because of its rotor."

http://legacy.vtol.org/vertiflite/halLCH.pdf

Also see the pictures in this PDF, you will understand what I meant by incidence angle.

So, now, if the helicopter is flying nose down, the FLIR will work perfectly well with no obstruction.