LCH ( light combat helicopter ) FROM HAL INDIA

[nobody]

hi guys, i need info reg LCH from HAL. this is the combat version of the HAL DHRUV ALH ( advanced light helicopter ). i hv seen the prototype in aero 2003. but no pics after that.
it is a combat helicopter like the apache, cobra, tiger & mi-35. pics if possible.

[Webmaster]

Well that wasn't a full prototype yet, but a mockup. From ACIG.org Aero India 2003 report:

One of the higher profile exhibits and perhaps the most significant,was the full scale mockup of HAL's latest project - the Light combat helicopter (LCH), the gunship variant of the Dhruv. IAF ACM S Krishnaswamy, committed to grant Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) to HAL for designing and developing the Light Combat Helicopter in the next 24 months. HAL has now promised to deliver the LCH by the the next Aero-India show in 2005. The mockup featured functional glass cockpits and details such as the RWR aerials, MAWS, Nag ATGMS and the conformal countermeasures launcher. One of the prime roles of the helicopter would be COIN missions at extremely high altitudes.

http://www.acig.org/artman/uploads/in_lch_001.jpg
http://www.acig.org/artman/uploads/in_lch2_001.jpg

But I haven't seen anything like it in the 2005 show report. Only the civil and naval Dhruv attended the show, as well as a normal army version. I wouldn't bet my money on the LCH, good chance it will end up like LOH, cancelled... with a maybe on a foreign purchase.

[Webmaster]

Oh well, I just found this on the AFM board, somewhat more promising news, pretty recent as well.

From Defense News May 2, 2005

India’s Army is slashing plans to buy foreign helicopters, ordering instead the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) now being developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), Bangalore.

The Army had planned to import about 198 helicopters over the next 10 to 15 years, but thanks to the LCH, the service now intends to buy only about 40 helicopters from Bell Helicopter in the United States, the Eurocopter consortium in France and Kamov in Russia, an Army official said.

Another LCH customer is the Indian Air Force, which already has spent $70 million on an initial order of 16 LCHs and is expected to order about 34 more in the next three years, a HAL official said. These purchases do not replace planned foreign orders. Delivery of the first batch is to begin next year and wrap up in 2007.

The two-engine, 5.5-ton LCH will carry a pilot and co-pilot/gunner in tandem to operate air-to-air missiles, 20mm guns, unguided rockets and cluster bombs, grenade launchers and anti-radiation missiles.

The helicopter will be equipped with missile warning systems, anti-missile countermeasures, and night-attack-capable cockpit displays. Its narrow fuselage will be stealthy, and its landing gear will be built to handle hard landings.

The LCH is intended to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles and slow-moving aircraft, escort troop-carrying copters on special operations, destroy enemy air defenses, fight in urban environments, and blow up tanks and other vehicles.