Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally inducts the indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) "Prachand" into the Indian Air Force, in Jodhpur, Monday. (PTI)The Indian Air Force Monday formally inducted the first indigenously developed multirole light combat helicopters (LCH), named Prachand, into its fleet at its Jodhpur base in Rajasthan in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. These helicopters are capable of destruction of enemy air defence, performing counter-insurgency operations, combat search and rescue tasks.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari were also present at the induction ceremony in the 143 Helicopter Unit at the Jodhpur base. The defence minister also took a sortie in the helicopter after the induction.
The formal induction of Prachand, meaning “fierce”, comes after the cabinet committee on security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved in March the procurement of 15 LCH Limited Series Production (LSP) at the cost of Rs 3,887 crore along with allied infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 crore. Of the 15 helicopters being procured from the LSP, 10 are for the IAF and five for the Indian Army.
In his address at the induction ceremony, Rajnath Singh said: “For a long time after Independence, indigenous technology towards the development of attack helicopters was not given enough attention. As a result, the IAF had to depend on foreign-origin attack helicopters. The long-felt need for indigenous attack helicopters was highlighted even more during the Kargil War. LCH is a result of two-decade-long research and development since then. And its induction is an important milestone in our journey of indigenous defence production.”
#WATCH | The first indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) inducted into Indian Air Force at Jodhpur, in the presence of Defence minister Rajnath Singh and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari pic.twitter.com/sh3fqkTprg
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The LCH has a narrow fuselage because of the tandem cockpit configuration for the pilot and co-pilot gunner and has several stealth features, armour protection, night attack capability and crash-worthy landing gear for better survivability. It is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by the defence public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
The defence minister said that the LSP version of the LCH has around 45 per cent indigenous content by value which will progressively increase to more than 55 per cent for the series production version.
The ministry said that the helicopter is equipped with requisite agility, manoeuvrability, extended range, high-altitude performance and around-the-clock, all-weather combat capability to perform roles of combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD), counter-insurgency (CI) operations.
It is also an effective asset to counter slow-moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) and can be deployed in high-altitude bunker busting operations and counter-insurgency operations, both in jungle and urban environments. It can effectively support ground forces in various combat scenarios.
According to HAL, there is a projected requirement of 160 LCHs — 65 for the IAF and 95 for the Army. After receiving a contract for 15 in the LSP series in March after the cabinet committee decision, some units have already been delivered and the remaining are at various stages of acceptance.
The HAL said that it has drawn a detailed masterplan for achieving the peak rate production capacity of 30 helicopters per year to cater to the production of the remaining 145 LCHs in eight years from the date of signing of the series production order.