Over the next five years, 90 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) Prachand will be added to the Indian Army while the Indian Air Force will be receiving as many as 66 LCH, enhancing the combat capabilities of the armed forces at high altitude areas.
LCH is India’s first indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter that can operate at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, making it suitable for operations in areas like Siachen Glacier and Eastern Ladakh.
Effective both as an anti-infantry and anti-armour helicopter, LCH Prachand, which is derived from the Dhruv helicopter, can be deployed for multiple roles, including tracking slow-moving targets on air, counter-insurgency ops both in urban and forest environments and destroying the defences of the adversaries. The attack aircraft is equipped with advanced weapons systems, including a M621 20mm cannon on a Nexter THL-20 turret and Zeebrugge-built FZ231 rocket launcher.
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The state-of-the-art sensor suite, a missile approach warning system, radar and laser warning receivers, and cutting-edge avionics systems ensure its survivability even in hostile environments.
Recently, the defence ministry signed two contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the supply of 156 Prachand along with training and other associated equipment worth Rs. 62,700 crore, excluding taxes.
The supply of the helicopters will begin from the third year and will be spread over the next five years, the defence ministry said.
The helicopter has a large number of components designed and manufactured in India and it is planned to achieve an overall indigenous content of over 65 per cent during the execution of this procurement. This will involve over 250 domestic companies mostly MSMEs and will generate over 8,500 direct and indirect jobs.
Besides, the ministry of defence also signed a contract with Metrea Management for Wet Leasing of one Flight Refuelling Aircraft (FRA) for providing air-to-air refuelling training to pilots of IAF and Indian Navy. Metrea will provide FRA (KC135 Aircraft) within six months which will be the first FRA to be wet leased by IAF.
