The Army Aviation Corps (AAC) is now planning to set up additional integrated aviation brigades after the first three came up during the ongoing over three-year-old military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, with two of them deployed along the Line of Actual Control and one on the western front with Pakistan, senior officers said on Tuesday.
Progressive induction of new choppers will also see the 12-lakh strong Army finally begin to retire its old Cheetah and Chetak helicopters — workhorses in high-altitude areas but dogged by a high crash rate — from 2027 onwards.
“By then, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) should start delivering the new light utility helicopters (LUHs) in the 3-tonne class…this entire process of phasing out the Cheetah/Chetak fleet and replacing them will take around 10-12 years. Some choppers will also be leased in the interim. Eventually, the AAC needs 250 LUHs,” an officer said.
Watch: Indian Army’s Rudra attack chopper ‘rains fire and steel’ on mountain
The armed forces have been demanding new LUHs to replace their over 350 Cheetah/Chetak choppers (Army has 190), which are of the design vintage of the 1960s, lack modern avionics and in-built safety mechanisms, for almost two decades now.
While this will take some time, the AAC is forging ahead well on other fronts. The recent induction of satcom-enabled Israeli Heron Mark-II drones, which can stay airborne for 35 hours at a stretch, for instance, has boosted strategic surveillance along the LAC. These medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones can also be equipped with missiles and `smart’ bombs.
The AAC will also get new Israeli Hermes 900 StarLiner remotely-piloted aircraft systems early next year. The mega $3 billion contract for 31 top-notch armed MQ-9B Reaper or Predator-B drones — 15 for Navy and 8 each for Army and IAF – is also likely to be inked with the US within this fiscal.
Parallelly, there is the Rs 3,500 crore upgrade programme for half of the around 80-90 Israeli Heron-I UAVs inducted by the armed forces over the years with laser-guided bombs and air-to-ground anti-tank missiles as well as advanced reconnaissance and satcom capabilities under `Project Cheetah’.
While the six heavy-duty Apache attack helicopters will be inducted from the US early next year, the plan to order 156 more indigenous `Prachand’ light combat helicopters (Army 90, IAF 66), capable of offensive operations in high-altitude areas like Siachen Glacier and eastern Ladakh, from HAL has also been finalized.
The first Prachand squadron, with 20mm turret guns, 70mm rocket systems and air-to-air missiles, is now deployed at Missamari as part of the aviation brigade in the eastern sector. “Deliveries of 90 more Prachands should begin in two to three years,” the officer said.
The Army is also going to acquire around 500 Helina third-generation tank-killing missiles with a maximum 8-km strike range. “Production of the missiles will begin after their integration process on the ALHs is completed in another year or so,” he said. The 25 new ALHs, incidentally, will add to the 170 such choppers already in the Army, with over 60 of them being the weaponized version called Rudra.
“The combination of armed helicopters and drones has transformed AAC into a potent force-multiplier capable of operating in combined combat teams with significant tactical leverage on the battlefield,” he added.
