Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially dedicate the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi on 19 November.
The LCH, is India’s first indigenously-built attack helicopter, designed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
However, this helicopter has been used by the IAF in Ladakh since last year after the Doklam incident. As per a report published in Livefist, two of these helicopters reached Ladakh from Bangalore in August 2020, and it has been flying armed patrol sorties in the region as China refuses to deescalate and move back its forces from areas it occupied along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in May.
In a tweet sent out by the official IAF media co-ordination, it reads, “VCAS Air Mshl Harjit Singh Arora visited forward air bases in the Ladakh sector today. He interacted with air warriors of the combat units currently operating in the sector and reviewed operational preparedness at IAF bases,”.
VCAS Air Mshl Harjit Singh Arora visited forward air bases in the Ladakh sector today. He interacted with air warriors of the combat units currently operating in the sector and reviewed operational preparedness at IAF bases. pic.twitter.com/7yj62WjLB3
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) August 7, 2020
Air Marshal Arora flew the LCH from Thoise to Leh along with a HAL test pilot and as per Livefist, the helicopter was flown in “full mission configuration… with temperatures as high as ISA + 36 degrees”, crossed various passes such as Khardung La and Chang La, carried out a simulated attack, and then demonstrated its maneuverability in simulated “aerial combat profile”.
The LCH has been developed to meet the requirements of the Indian military in high-altitude areas and it has successfully demonstrated its capability of operating in high-altitude conditions during trials not only in Ladakh but also on the Siachen Glacier.
The Shakti engine was co-developed with French engine-maker Safran and the 5.5 tonne helo has been designed to operate at an altitude of up to 20,000 feet.
“During the Kargil War of 1999, there was a need felt for armed attack helicopters capable of operating at high altitude. That’s where the LCH fits in,” former Indian Air Force chief Fali Homi Major, the only helicopter pilot to become Chief of Air Staff, wrote recently.
The LCH is armed with a cannon mounted below its nose that has armour piercing rounds and can fire thousand 20-millimetre bullets a minute. It also has 70-millimetre rockets on pods on either side and has the provision to be armed with an air-to-air missile and an anti-armour missile making it a multirole attack platform.
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