On 28 March 2025 in a landmark deal boosting self-reliance, Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed two contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 156 (90 for Indian Army Aviation Corps, 66 for Indian Air Force) Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) Prachand plus associated equipment at a cost of over Rs. 62,700 Cr (US$ 7.2 billion) excluding taxes. The contracts were signed soon after the deal got final sanction from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
The helicopters will be manufactured in HAL's Bengaluru and Tumukru plant in Karnataka. Deliveries will start from the 3rd year of inking the contract and will be followed by delivery of 30 helicopters per year, completing the contract within the next 5 years. The formal induction of LCH to the Indian Air Force (IAF) occurred in 3 October 2022 in 143 Helicopter Unit at Jodhpur Air Force Station (AFS) and officially named Prachand by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Designed and developed for seamless airborne operations in support of ground troops at high altitudes and holding the distinction of the first attack helicopter to land on Siachen (having repeatedly landed at several high altitude helipads, some of which being as high as 13,600 ft to 15,800 ft), the maiden flight of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) took place on 29 March 2010 marking successful culmination of three years of design and development efforts by Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWRDC) of the Helicopter Complex and appropriately named ‘Tiger Bird’ perhaps inspired from exceptional high agility and the design painted on the prototype.
Projected to meet the requirements of the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army plus significant export potential, the LCH is being developed as a dedicated attack helicopter derived from the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv and to be fitted with weapons and special mission systems and having a crashworthy wheel landing gear.
In addition to the primary anti-armour role, the rotary wing platform will play the critical roles of escort to Special Heliborne Operations (SHBO), support of Combat Search & Rescue (CSAR) operations, and armed aerial scouting duties. Anti-air operations include destruction of hostile helicopters and Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). The LCH was declared ready for production in February 2020 with a LCH Production Hangar established at HAL's Helicopter Division in Bengaluru. The new hanger will "augment capacity to reach the peak production of 30 helicopters per year", stated the then HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan in an Indian defence ministry statement.
The LCH inherits many technical features of the Dhruv including its rotor system transmission, power plant, hydraulics, Integrated Avionics and Display System (IADS) and avionics. The features that are unique to LCH are its sleek and narrow fuselage, exterior covered by canted flat panels to minimise Radar Cross Section (RCS), an integrated dynamic system, including a hinge less main rotor and bearing less tail rotor, which works in conjunction with an anti-resonance isolation system to dampen vibrations, tri-cycle crashworthy landing gear, tandem cockpit, self-sealing fuel tanks, and aerofoil shaped stub wings for weapons, armour protection, Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) protection and low visibility digital camouflage features which make the LCH “lethal, agile and survivable.”
Notably the flight controls and hydraulics of Dhruv have been redesigned for the LCH. An indigenous Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) have been designed by HAL. The helicopter is powered by two HAL/Turbomeca Shakti-1H1 turboshaft engines fitted with Infra-Red (IR) suppressors, each of which can generate up to 871 kW and can run for up to 3,000 hours without maintenance. It features a Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) system, which decreases the work of the pilot by automatically counting engine cycles. The LCH has a cruise speed of 260 km/h, a maximum speed of 275 km/h and a climb rate of 12 m/s to a service ceiling of 6,500 m to conduct High-Altitude Warfare (HAW). LCH has an operational range of 550 km and a ferry range of 700 km.
Fitted with a chin mounted, twin barrel M621 20 mm cannon on a Nexter THL-20 turret integrated to a Helmet Mounted Sight (HMS), LCH armament will include Belgian 70 mm rockets and air-to-air/air-to-ground missiles and Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) on the weapon stations. MBDA PARS3 and indigenous Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) HELINA/Dhruvastra Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (ATGW) with a range up to 7 km are favoured anti-armour weapons. MBDA Mistral-2 Air-to-Air Missiles (AAM) are carried to ensure self-protection during scouting operations and to decimate hostile helicopters and UAV.
The LCH is furnished with a glass cockpit which accommodates an IADS which used an array of multifunction displays in conjunction with the onboard Target Acquisition & Designation (TADS) system in day and night for the crew including the Helmet Mounted Sight (HMS) and an Elbit Compact Multi-Purpose Advance Stabilisation System (CoMPASS) electro-optic/infrared turret (being license built in India by Bharat Electronics Limited) consisting of CCD camera/ third generation 3-5 µm Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR)/Laser Range Finder (LRF)/Laser Designator (LD). The LRF and LD facilitate measurement of range to the target and guidance to the laser guided missiles respectively.
The Digital Video Recorder would enable recording of the vital mission for debriefing purposes. The turret gun skewing is controlled by the Helmet Mounted Sight (HMS) of the gunner, who along with the pilot receives adequate inputs from Multi-Function Displays (MFD). The digitally camouflaged LCH is also fitted with a Saab Self-Protection Suite consisting of Radar/Laser warning receivers and Missile Approach Warning Systems (MAWS) and Countermeasures dispensing system. It is planned to integrate IR/Laser missile jammers on the helicopter.
Another addition is a Data Link for Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) operations facilitating transfer of the mission data to the other airborne platforms and ground stations operating in the network, thus facilitating force multiplication. The LCH is designed for low detection (visual, aural, radar and infrared) and includes armour protection of critical areas.
A 30 minute dry running capability of the gear box is a built in-feature to survive after any ballistic hit to the transmission system. Crashworthiness features are built into the wheel landing gear and main structure while dual redundant systems also enhance effectiveness of helicopters in the battlefield environment.
The performance features of the LCH including rate of climb, cruise speed, service ceiling are comparable with those of contemporary helicopter types such as the Agusta A129 ‘Mangusta’ and Tiger. Development costs of the LCH have been “relatively low” compared to that of other helicopter types in its class, ensuring lower unit costs. “LCH design is optimised to ensure ease of maintenance with improved reliability of all the onboard systems to keep the life cycle operating costs low as well,” stated a HAL designer.
On 1 June 2022, an attack squadron, 351 Army Aviation Squadron, was raised by the Army Aviation Corps in Bengaluru for LCH operations. A total of seven squadrons are planned, each with ten LCH helicopters.
By Sayan Majmdar