Make or break for HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter Program

[mkb95]

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is sweating hard to conduct a maiden test flight of its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in December. 3.1-tonne single-engine LUH prototype has completed series of Ground trials and currently has been involved in series of preflight testing.

HAL is under lot of pressure from Indian Armed forces to deliver on the deadline promised to them and India’s upcoming contract for purchase of 200 Kamov Ka-226T ‘Hoodlum’ light multirole helicopters for the Indian military in the same period is direct threat to the HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter Program since both helicopters can substitute each other and if HAL fails Indian Military planners will simply place orders for Kamov Ka-226T warned Defence analyst Ranesh Rajan .

Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and Kamov Ka-226T will be replacing obsolete Cheetah and Chetak helicopters currently been operated by the Army Aviation Corps (AAC), Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy since the 1960s and also been used by Coast Guard and Combined Joint requirements will be of more than 500 Helicopters of this type .

HAL will get orders for 187 LUHs from AAC and the IAF and plans to achieve initial operational (IOC) before series production starts in 2018 and already has been setting up a greenfield manufacturing facility in Tumakuru district of Karnataka to manufacture light utility helicopters (LUH) for which it has acquired 610 acres land from the Karnataka government for this facility which will have peak annual production capacity of 60 helicopters.

Combined Helicopter requirements in next decade or so will touch 600 helicopters from Indian Military branches and there will also be demand from Civilian operators. Both Kamov Ka-226T and LUH will have minimum production run for 200 Helicopters each, But orders for procuring remaining 200 helicopters is wide open between Two helicopters and it will all narrow down to which Helicopter earns its users trust.

 

[Ind4Ever]

India has requirements for more than 700 LUH. So it's good to have indegineous one to arrest foreign exchange outflows

 

[Bad Guy]

Good, HAL was living in "Babustan" where nobody needed to work. This time new government has prevented major arms imports pressurizing Indian Armed Forces who pressurized Domestic Arm Builders. Let's see how it goes on.
Anyway, whatever be LUH, I wanna see LOH flying. It's tail looks awesome.