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According to its makers, the LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world which can land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 meters with a considerable load of weapons and fuel, meeting the specific requirements laid out by the Indian Armed Forces.

Here is the story of its development by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), its unique features, its importance as a strategic asset and the road it faces ahead.

Genesis of the Light Combat Helicopter

It was during the 1999 Kargil war that the need was first felt for a homegrown lightweight assault helicopter that could hold precision strikes in all Indian battlefield scenarios. This meant a craft that could operate in very hot deserts and also in very cold high altitudes, in counter-insurgency scenarios to full-scale battle conditions.

India has been operating sub 3 ton category French-origin legacy helicopters, Chetak and Cheetah, made in India by the HAL. These single engine machines were, primarily, utility helicopters. Indian forces also operate the Lancer, an armed version of Cheetah. In addition, the Indian Air Force currently operates the Russian origin Mi-17 and its variants Mi-17 IV and Mi-17 V5, with maximum take off weight of 13 tonnes, which are to be phased out starting 2028.

But the requirement was for a more agile, multi-role dedicated attack helicopter. After the initial deliberations, the government sanctioned the LCH project in October 2006, and HAL was tasked to develop it. The HAL’s Rotary Wing Research and Development Centre, which had already worked on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruva and its weaponised version ALH Rudra, embarked upon the project.

The development of Light Combat Helicopter

The LCH has been designed as a twin-engine, dedicated combat helicopter of 5.8-ton class, thus categorised as light. It features a narrow fuselage and tandem — one behind the other — configuration for pilot and co-pilot. The copilot is also the Weapon Systems Operator (WSO). While LCH inherits many features of the ALH, it mainly differs in tandem cockpit configuration, making it sleeker. It also has many more state-of-art systems that make it a dedicated attack helicopter.

In the LCH’s journey towards clearance and induction by the IAF and the Army, extensive flight testing has been carried out on four prototypes, also known as Technology Demonstrators (TDs).

The first Technology Demonstrator was completed in February 2010 and took its first flight on March 29 the same year. TD-2 prototype, completed around 2012, successfully passed the cold weather trials at high altitude. TD-3 and TD-4 prototypes, completed around 2014 and 2015, successfully tested other flight test requirements.

HAL officials said that the flight testing was carried out at various altitudes, from sea level to the Siachen range, in extreme cold and hot weather conditions, and in desert regions. During these tests, integration of mission sensors such as electro-optical system, helmet-mounted display system, solid state data and video recorder, and weapon systems such as turret gun, rockets and air-to-air missile systems was carried out. Weapon firing trials were also completed. The four prototypes have together undergone over 2,000 flights with close to 1600 flight hours.

Initial operational clearance came in 2017 for the IAF variant and in 2019 for the Army variant. In August 2020, the MoD added LCH to the items under import embargo. In November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi symbolically handed over the LCH to the Indian Air Force, paving the way for its final induction.

In March this year, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved procurement of 15 LCH Limited Series Production (LSP) — 10 for IAF and five for Army — at the cost of Rs 3,887 crore along with infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 crore.

Features, significance of the Light Combat Helicopter

LCH has the maximum take-off weight of 5.8 tonnes, maximum speed of 268 kilometers per hour, range of 550 kilometers, endurance of over three hours and service ceiling — the maximum density altitude to which it can fly — of 6.5 kilometres.

The helicopter uses radar-absorbing material to lower radar signature and has a significantly crash-proof structure and landing gear. A pressurised cabin offers protection from nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) contingencies.

The helicopter is equipped with a countermeasure dispensing system that protects it from enemy radars or infrared seekers of the enemy missiles. As far as weapons systems are concerned, a 20 mm turret gun, 70 mm rockets and air-to-air missile systems are onboard.

LCH is powered by two French-origin Shakti engines manufactured by the HAL.

With these features, the LCH has the capabilities of combat roles such as destruction of enemy air defence, counter insurgency warfare, combat search and rescue, anti-tank, and counter surface force operations.

The road ahead

According to HAL there is a projected requirement of 160 LCHs — 65 for IAF and 95 for Indian Army. After receiving a contract for the LSP in March, some units have already been delivered and the rest are at various stages of acceptance. HAL has said that it has drawn a detailed masterplan for achieving the peak rate production capacity of 30 helicopters per year in order to produce the remaining 145 LCHs in eight years from the date of signing of Series Production order.

For export, the HAL has already obtained a no objection certificate from the Ministry of Defence for countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Angola, Egypt, Indonesia, Ecuador and Nigeria, sources have said.

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The development marks the culmination of a long journey – the carrier’s construction began in 2009.

“With the delivery of Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to design and build an aircraft carrier,” the navy statement read.
It has been built at a cost of around ₹20,000 crore and will significantly boost the country’s naval presence and its reach, navy officials said. The warship’s delivery comes in the backdrop of rigorous user acceptance trials carried out between August 2021 and July 2022.

Vikrant has put India in a select league — only the US, the UK, Russia, France and China have the capability to build aircraft carriers. The 262-metre-long carrier has a full displacement of 45,000 tonne. It has been named after aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, operated by the navy from 1961 to 1997.

It has an indigenous content of 76%. It is a “perfect example of the nation’s quest for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and provides thrust to the government’s Make in India initiative,” the navy said.

Describing Vikrant as a great national achievement, former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) said the aircraft carrier will enhance the country’s power projection and sea control capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

“Building it has taken much longer than it should have. But it’s a good learning experience. It will be meaningful only if we follow it up with a second indigenous aircraft carrier. Otherwise, the skill and expertise that we have acquired will die out, and it will be a huge national loss,” Prakash added.

It will operate an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft, including MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 choppers, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, advanced light helicopters and light combat aircraft (navy).

The fighters on board the aircraft carrier will use the ski-jump to takeoff and will be recovered by arrestor wires or STOBAR (short takeoff but arrested recovery) in navy parlance.

Vikrant is also expected to operate a new deck-based fighter that the navy is planning to buy — it has already tested Boeing’s F/A-18E Super Hornet and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale-M.The carrier was designed by the Indian Navy’s directorate of naval design. It has 14 decks, including five in the superstructure, 2,300 compartments, and can accommodate a crew of 1,700, including specialised cabins for women.

India currently operates a solitary aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, bought second-hand from Russia for $2.33 billion, but the navy has been arguing it needs three such floating airfields given its vast area of interest.

Vikrant will be commissioned into the navy barely two months after China launched its third aircraft carrier, the first such designed and built entirely in that country. The launch of the new carrier called Fujian on June 17 came against the backdrop of China’s push for greater maritime influence in the far seas and as its warships attempt to leave their mark in Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

A warship’s launch marks a significant milestone in its construction and refers to the vessel entering the water for the first time. China currently operates two aircraft carriers — CV-16 Liaoning and CV-17 Shandong.

Vikrant will be the fourth aircraft carrier to be operated by the Indian Navy, first Vikrant (British origin) from 1961 to 1997, INS Viraat (British origin) from 1987 to 2016 and INS Vikramaditya (Russian origin) 2013 onwards.

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If the development of the new variant of the Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv is done successfully, the Indian Navy would be looking at placing orders for 50 of these choppers which would help the Indian Navy to deploy choppers on its warships on high seas.

The development of choppers at the helicopter division of the public sector undertaking is being torn up after HAL claimed to the forces that it has been successful in the development of foldable rotors, the sources said. Due to constraints of space on warships, Navies across the globe require helicopters and aircraft to have foldable wings which allow more assets to be parked there.

The frigates and destroyers have relatively smaller parking spaces and foldable rotors of UH Marine would allow them to be kept easily, sources said.The Navy has more than 150 warships in its fleet and wants them to be equipped with at least one helicopter each and is looking at procuring them through the Make in India route first.

In recent times, the Indian Navy has induced around 16 of these ALH Dhruv Mark 3 choppers along with an equal number of machines for the Indian Coast Guard too. For the Indian Navy also, the HAL has been offering a maritime version of the Dhruv but not much could be done due to the lack of capabilities that have been required by the maritime force for operations.

The Indian Navy warships are deployed all along the Indian Ocean Region and warships are provided with helicopters for reconnaissance and surveillance along with other operations required by the fleet to be carried out.

The force will soon get its first set of the 24 MH-60 Romeo choppers from the US which were contracted for in a Foreign Military Sales deal a couple of years ago to meet the urgent requirements of multirole attack and anti-submarine warfare choppers.

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The anti-tank missile was tested again next day, this time in the northern high altitude mountain regions after its successful test on Monday in the desert regions of Pokhran.

The flight trials were conducted from an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and the missile was fired successfully engaging simulated tank target. The missile is guided by an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) Seeker operating in the Lock on Before Launch mode. It is one of the most advanced anti-tank weapons in the world.

In continuation to validation trials conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan, proof of efficacy at high altitudes paves the way for its integration on the ALH. The trials were witnessed by senior Army commanders and senior scientists of the DRDO.

With the flight test, consistent performance of the complete system, including Imaging Infra-Red Seeker, has been established, which will enable the induction of the ‘Helina’ into the armed forces,” said a press statement from the Ministry of Defence on 12 April.

DRDO has said that the Helina missile system has all weather day and night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as explosive reactive armour. It has been developed for integration with choppers in both the Army and Air Force.

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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which manufactures the German-origin Dorniers at its Kanpur unit, has invited the Indian industry for the design and development and subsequent supply of fully assembled radio altimeters. The radio altimeter provides accurate altitude information to the cockpit crew during low altitude flight, generally up to a height of about 2,500 ft. It consists of a receiver transmitter and antennae for exchange of information with ground stations.

Sources said a request for information was floated by HAL about a month ago, stating that a new radio altimeter for the Do-228 was an “immediate requirement.” At present, the Dorniers are equipped with the Collins ALT-4000 radio altimeter that is manufactured by Collins Aerospace, a US-based subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies that also has a set-up in India.

More than 140 Do-228 aircraft produced by HAL are presently in service in India and overseas, primarily with the Indian Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard.

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Mauritius already operates a ALH and Dornier Do-228 aircraft built by HAL. “With this contract, HAL and Government of Mauritius have further strengthened the long-standing business relations spanning over three decades,” a HAL statement said.

The contract was signed by B.K. Tripathy, General Manager, Helicopter Division-HAL and O.K. Dabidin, Secretary of Home Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Mauritius, recently at HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division, Kanpur.

The ALH Mk III is a multi-role, multi-mission helicopter in the 5.5 tonne category in extensive use by the Indian armed forces and has also been exported.

More than 335 ALHs have been produced till date logging around 3,40,000 cumulative flying hours. HAL also ensures technical assistance and product support to the customer to ensure healthy serviceability of the helicopter, the statement noted.

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Liebherr and HAL previously co-operated on military aviation programmes such as the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter, Tejas light fighter aircraft and Dornier Do 228 maritime patrol aircraft.

The Indian Defence Acquisition Council in early November approved the procurement of 12 LUHs from HAL with the first delivery scheduled for August 2022.

However, ordering a dozen LUHs will barely make a dent on Indian requirements for 187 new light helicopters to replace elderly Chetak and Cheetah platforms.

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