HAL’s Light Combat Helicopter Completes Weapon Trials

Arjun G
REDACT
Published in
2 min readJan 17, 2019

The Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) indigenously designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, has successfully carried out air to air missile firing on a moving aerial target.

With this, LCH has successfully completed all weapon integration tests and is ready for operational induction. Other weapons on LCH include a 20mm Turret gun and 70 mm Rockets, the firing trials of which have already been completed last year.

According to R Madhavan, CMD-HAL, this is the first time in the country that a helicopter has carried out air to air missile engagement. None of the helicopters with the military services in the country has demonstrated such a capability.

The tests were conducted at the integrated test range at Chandipur, Odisha recently by Wg Cdr Subash P John, VM (Retd), test pilot, Col Ranjit Chitale, (Retd), Flight Test Engineer from HAL and Gp Capt Rajeev Dubey, test pilot from IAF.

Equipped with Helmet mounted sight and a forward looking infrared sighting system, LCH pilots can now detect and destroy targets on ground or in the air. Using these sights, pilots can now launch a missile onto any target without having to turn the helicopter. The fire and forget missile is effective against all types of aerial threats, including UAVs and microlight aircraft. Capable of operating from dispersed locations and flying at ultra low levels, LCH can now effectively provide a protective umbrella from all aerial threats.

India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has accorded approval for procurement of initial batch of 15 LCHs (10 for IAF and 5 for Army).

“LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world capable of operating at altitudes as high as Siachen glacier,” read a communiqué by the company.

The helicopter was designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWRDC) of HAL in response to the operational needs of Indian Armed Forces.

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