HAL gets order of 41 ALH helicopters; 40 for Army, one for Navy

ALH will most likely be used for transport, utility, reconnaissance and medical evacuation purposes.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has been given an order to supply 41 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to the defence forces. Forty of these will be for the Indian Army while one ALH will be for the Navy.

The Indian Army significantly wants to strengthen its Air wing which would vastly improve its capabilities to monitor both Eastern and Western borders of the country.

The Defence Ministry last month cleared the proposal to procure six Apache attack helicopters for the Army. Apache choppers, armed with Hellfire missiles, would enable the Army not only to keep an eye on the LoC but also attack terrorists trying to infiltrate the border. The Army has been demanding such attack helicopters for a long time.

The uses of Apache and ALH are totally different. Apache is designed to be an attack helicopter which can wreak havoc on terrorists on the ground with its 30 mm M230 chain gun and Hellfire and Stinger missiles.

ALH will most likely be used for transport, utility, reconnaissance and medical evacuation purposes.

The HAL Dhruv or ALH is a utility helicopter developed and manufactured by HAL. The development of the Dhruv was first announced in November 1984. The Dhruv entered service in 2002. It is designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators, with military variants of the helicopter being developed for the Indian Armed Forces, while a variant for civilian/commercial use has also been developed.

HAL Dhruv has another variant called Rudra, also known as ALH-WSI. It is an armed version of HAL Dhruv. Rudra is equipped with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and Thermal Imaging Sights Interface, a 20 mm turret gun, 70 mm rocket pods, anti-tank guided missiles and air-to-air missiles.

But, even Rudra is no match for Apache, which is the most advanced multi-role heavy attack helicopter in the world.

OneIndia News