Indian Army Wants 60 Tactical Battle support Helicopters of its own

[$@rJen]

Indian Army Wants 60 Tactical Battle support Helicopters of its own
Published January 16, 2016
SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK (INN)

After Defence Ministry came under heavy criticism by Comptroller and Auditor General of India for gross neglect of equipping the Army Aviation Corps with sanctioned strength of helicopters, their maintenance and replacement. Army Aviation Corps, a wing of the Indian Army has again projected requirements of 60 Tactical Battle support Helicopters in strengthening decisive combat powers of its Aviation Corp.

Indian Army has asked MOD to allow it to procure 60 helicopters in the class of 10-12 tonne class which can be employed for swift and precise transportation of troops in a tactical scenario by contributing to battlefield success by providing guidance to field commanders said well-informed sources close to idrw.org.

Helicopters in the weight class shortlisted by Indian Army are Mi-17V-5, NHIndustries NH90, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, Eurocopter EC725 and Boeing CH-47 Chinook for which India has placed orders for 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters from Boeing which will be operated by Indian Air Force but will be funded by Indian Army.

While there is not clarity if MOD will pursue Armies demand for new choppers since Indian Air Force which is most vocal critic of Army Aviation Corps will sternly oppose any such move like it did with procurement of 22 AH-64E Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters from Boeing in past and will complain of unnecessary duplication of Assets and Inventory in the Indian Armed force.

While the first lot of 22 AH-64E Apache will be operated by Indian Air Force, Army was able to convince Defence Ministry to allow it to keep 39 Apaches which could be brought under follow-up order after contracted 22 Apache are delivered to India.

Defence Analyst Ranesh Rajan speaking to idrw.org on this matter said that ” long-running dispute with the IAF on ownership of attack and support Helicopters will only lead to poor coordination between forces in Counter operations in the event of Terror attacks “. he also added that ” While Army Air corps know doubt will grow in next Decade or so Army needs to mend its differences with Airforce over Helicopter Assets to end long and bitter turf war over them”

 

[$@rJen]

@PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy Looks like more Apaches are going to come for IA

 

[PARIKRAMA]

@PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy Looks like more Apaches are going to come for IA

I think 39 apaches will come but eventually Apaches at max will be not more than 100 but more may in the range of 22+11+39+19 = 91 (including follow ons 11 and 19 subsequently which is 50% of the original)

The chinooks looks like 15+7 follow on may be there so a fleet of 22 with the present deal .. IF they do want say 40 more may be MOD should look to combine 40 new requirement and 7 follow on and make it round figure 50 Chinooks but completely Make In India

I dont think Boeing should have issue of having a assembly line for 50 Chinooks..
@Abingdonboy What do you think.. 50 Chinooks order can get us a line?
Add a goodie more may be C130XJ also in MII say 75 odd replacing the complete An32 fleet now as MTA is gone at replacement ratio of 0.75 C130XJ for 1 AN32s...
You think we can get Boeing to make India Transport Aircraft Manufacturing and Regional Repairing hub?

 

[Abingdonboy]

Indian Army Wants 60 Tactical Battle support Helicopters of its own
Published January 16, 2016
SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK (INN)

After Defence Ministry came under heavy criticism by Comptroller and Auditor General of India for gross neglect of equipping the Army Aviation Corps with sanctioned strength of helicopters, their maintenance and replacement. Army Aviation Corps, a wing of the Indian Army has again projected requirements of 60 Tactical Battle support Helicopters in strengthening decisive combat powers of its Aviation Corp.

Indian Army has asked MOD to allow it to procure 60 helicopters in the class of 10-12 tonne class which can be employed for swift and precise transportation of troops in a tactical scenario by contributing to battlefield success by providing guidance to field commanders said well-informed sources close to idrw.org.

Helicopters in the weight class shortlisted by Indian Army are Mi-17V-5, NHIndustries NH90, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, Eurocopter EC725 and Boeing CH-47 Chinook for which India has placed orders for 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters from Boeing which will be operated by Indian Air Force but will be funded by Indian Army.

While there is not clarity if MOD will pursue Armies demand for new choppers since Indian Air Force which is most vocal critic of Army Aviation Corps will sternly oppose any such move like it did with procurement of 22 AH-64E Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters from Boeing in past and will complain of unnecessary duplication of Assets and Inventory in the Indian Armed force.

While the first lot of 22 AH-64E Apache will be operated by Indian Air Force, Army was able to convince Defence Ministry to allow it to keep 39 Apaches which could be brought under follow-up order after contracted 22 Apache are delivered to India.

Defence Analyst Ranesh Rajan speaking to idrw.org on this matter said that ” long-running dispute with the IAF on ownership of attack and support Helicopters will only lead to poor coordination between forces in Counter operations in the event of Terror attacks “. he also added that ” While Army Air corps know doubt will grow in next Decade or so Army needs to mend its differences with Airforce over Helicopter Assets to end long and bitter turf war over them”

@PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy Looks like more Apaches are going to come for IA

Apaches for the IA are assured, what this news is talkng about is alltogether more intriguing- an offical request for medium class (classed in some nation heavy) transport helos for the IA in the 10-12 ton class. Interestingly the figure presented here is 60 but I know for a fact the IA's total demand is for 150 such helos of their own- this was what Airbus Military have stated.

Another thing to note is that the IN have a RFP out for helos in the same class and the EC725 is said to be a strong contender there, it would make a lot of sense to pool the requirements and go for a joint IA-IN purchase of EC-725s under MII (Airbus Military have said they would be willing to build it in India).

But where would this leave the IAF's 200-300-odd medium class helos (MI-17s)? They have just recieved brand new versions (V5s) and have another 100 or so on order. I don't see an explicit need for 300 odd medium class helos with the IAF if the IA is operating 150 helos in the same class given that a large majority of the IAF Mi-8/17 missions are in support of the IA right now. Once the IA is able to cater for itself to a greater degree it would leave the IAF's assets surplus to requirements. But I expect that by the time the IA has its full 150 medium class helos the IAF's assets will simply be ready for retirement (or at least getting there) and it will simply be a case of the IAF not seeking replacments for them.

It looks like the Indian military is going for a more American methodology of aviation asset control- the IAF will retain/acquire specilist rotary wing assets (for CSAR and such) but the majority of the rotary wing assets in the country will belong to the IA. In the long term, the Chinooks will also be handed over to the IA or (more likely) the IA will seek to procure some of their own and the IAF's Ch-47Fs will be used less for military needs and more for strategic infrastructure support.

I dont think Boeing should have issue of having a assembly line for 50 Chinooks..
@Abingdonboy What do you think.. 50 Chinooks order can get us a line?

I think it is highly plausible for a large order such as that especially when TATA is alreadly involved in producing sections of the Chinook today.

Add a goodie more may be C130XJ also in MII say 75 odd replacing the complete An32 fleet now as MTA is gone at replacement ratio of 0.75 C130XJ for 1 AN32s...
You think we can get Boeing to make India Transport Aircraft Manufacturing and Regional Repairing hub?

I think the 0.75 per 1 AN-32 is a good figure considering the increased performance of the C-130XJ vis a vis the AN-32REs.

And yes, for a large order of C-130s (of any variant) Lockhead Martin would 100% make India the regional Herc MRO hub.

 

[prabakar]

We need those Apache's and Chinooks...

 

[bloo]

I feel like the CH-6 Little Bird and similar helicopters will be a great help in COIN ops.

 

[Abingdonboy]

I feel like the CH-6 Little Bird and similar helicopters will be a great help in COIN ops.

Pretty much how the IA uses Cheetahs:

And how the new LUHs will be used in the future.

 

[Hellfire]

The request for 10-12 T class may not materialize as rightly pointed out due to duplication of IAF inventory. Mi-8s are all but phased out (except in ANC) with Mi-17V5s now increasingly forming the bulk of IAF inventory. But the IA's demand is in line with the perspective plan of 01 x Aviation Brigade per corps comprising of 03 x combat and utility heli units. IMO, Rudra, Dhruv, Ka-220, Cheetal/Cheetah (also Lancer) and LCH will be the bulk of these formations. Maybe SFs may get integral Air support and certain assets from either IAF/IA shifted to SFF. The aim to adopt for air-cavalry ops in future may be significantly be enhanced too, something which has been too long in cold storage

 

[Abingdonboy]

The request for 10-12 T class may not materialize as rightly pointed out due to duplication of IAF inventory.

Well it is clearly a long term objective and thus will likely meet success at some point.

Cheetal/Cheetah (also Lancer)

Will be phased out ASAP.

The aim to adopt for air-cavalry ops in future may be significantly be enhanced too, something which has been too long in cold storage

Indeed, this is a capability that is almost non-exsistent in the Indian military as of today.

 

[Ankit Kumar]

More Mi17s , keep it simple and cheap.

Artillery , armoured vehicles , rifles etc need the attention and money first.