Light Combat Helicopter.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The armed forces have moved a proposal to buy 156 Prachand Light Combat Helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to provide more teeth to the Indian Army and Indian Air Force while guarding the borders.
Sources said 90 helicopters would be for the army while the Indian Air Force would fly the remaining 66.
The Indian Air Force, as the lead agency, moved the proposal earlier this week.
Over the last 15 months, the two services inducted 15 such gunships that flew extensively including in extreme weather conditions and terrains ranging from deserts in the western theatre to the cold and rarefied atmosphere in the north.
The combined worth of the two contracts for the Army and the Indian Air Force could be nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
In March 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the purchase of 15 LCH at a cost of nearly Rs 4,000 crore. Ten of these helicopters were for the Indian Air Force whereas the army operated the rest.
The homegrown gunship currently has about 45 per cent indigenous content in the LSP (limited series production) version, which the HAL plans to increase progressively to more than 55 per cent for the series production versions.
The development of indigenous rotorcraft has its genesis in the Kargil conflict when the armed forces lacked an armed chopper with high-altitude flying ability. The HAL announced the LCH programme in 2006.