HAL Hands Over 16th ALH Mk III
HAL handed over the last of the 16 ALHs (Mk-III, Maritime role) contracted with the Indian Coast Guard at a programme on 15 November 2022 to DG Coast Guard V S Pathania in the presence of senior officials from CG, Defence and HAL. “We are proud to be associated with HAL and happy to issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) for nine more helicopters. Despite COVID-19, HAL delivered all the helicopters at the shortest time with seamless production activities and this allows us to strengthen India’s Maritime security”, he stated. The CG had signed a contract with HAL for supply of 16 ALH Mk III in March 2017. Mr. C B Ananthakrishnan, CMD, HAL said a unique feature of the contract has been the Performance Based Logistics (PBL) – the one stop solution for maintenance of these helicopters by HAL. “This will serve as a benchmark for all our future contracts and boost our resolve to work with private partners to speed up the work in the interest of all our customers and strengthen Make-in- India activities in the Defence eco-system”, he added. Mr. S Anbuvelan, CEO (Helicopter Complex), HAL in his address pointed out the major challenges in execution of the contract that included integration of new systems sourced from foreign OEMs, conducting flight trials for certifications and overcoming disruptions in the supply chain due to lock-downs. ALH Mk III is indigenously designed, developed and produced by HAL. The company has so far produced more than 330 ALHs, a versatile helicopter which has logged more than 3.74 lakh flying hours.
ICG 840 SQN (CG) commissioning
In a major boost to further strengthening the Coast Guard Region East, 840 Sqn (CG), an Indian Coast Guard Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mk-III squadron was commissioned by Director General VS Pathania, Director General Indian Coast Guard at ICG Air Station, Chennai on 30 November 2022. The occasion was graced by various military and civil dignitaries based at Chennai and Tamil Nadu area. ALH Mk-III helicopters have been indigenously manufactured by HAL, features state of art equipment including advanced radar as well as electro optical sensors, Shakti engines, full glass cockpit, high-intensity search light, advanced communication systems, automatic identification system as well as search-and-rescue homer. This feature enables the helicopter to undertake maritime reconnaissance as well as carry out search and rescue at extended ranges whilst operating from ships, both by day and night. The aircraft has the ability to switch roles from an offensive platform with heavy machine gun to that of a benign one carrying a Medical Intensive Care Unit to facilitate transfer of critically ill patients. 840 Sqn (CG) will be commanded by Commandant Atul Agarwal, and manned by 10 Officers and 52 men. The commissioning of 840 Sqn (CG) is a major fillip to the abilities of Indian Coast Guard in the security sensitive waters off Tamil Nadu and Andhra region.
ICG DG sortie in LUH
Director General V S Pathania, Director General Indian Coast Guard lead a delegation of ICG officials to Helicopter Division, HAL Bangalore on 14 November 2022 and visited the design and development facilities of indigenously built state-of-art helicopters. The visit was aimed at strengthening the procurement of aviation assets developed, designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India, in tune with Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. ICG is exploring HAL towards development of indigenously built helicopters to replace the ageing fleet of ICG Chetak helicopters which would be completing their service life. During his visit, the Director General was presented a detailed brief on the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) which is designed and developed as a replacement for Cheetah and Chetak helicopters and are being operated by Indian Armed Forces. LUH is a new generation helicopter in the 3-ton class and incorporates state-ofthe- art technology features like Glass cockpit with Multi-Function Displays (MFD) and is powered by single turbo shaft engine with sufficient power margin to cater to any exigency demanding ‘higher power setting’ operations. It is envisaged that LUH will meet the emerging needs in this class of helicopters, in the coming decades. The LUH is capable of flying at cruise speed of 130 kts with a service ceiling of 6.5 km and a range of 243 nm.
