<p>All that HAL will do is hand over one Cheetah helicopter and five Advance Light Helicopters-Dhruv (ALH) to the Namibian Air Force and the Indian Army, respectively.<br /><br />On whether the Nambia deal –– handing over a Cheetah which recently crashed killing two IAF pilots –– was worth scheduling for Aero India, HAL Chairman Ashok Nayak said: “I do not want to comment on that. What you need to know is that we are manufacturing a new aircraft for Namibia and every crash will be followed by a court of inquiry to find the reasons. A crash does not mean the aircraft is bad.”<br /><br />On the ALH, which the army had ordered a few years ago, Nayak said: “This is a Dhruv powered by the new Shakthi engines and has a glass cockpit. We are handing over five of the 159 now and we should hand over another 20-25 by March.”<br /><br />Besides this, the mock-up of Light Utility Helicopter, a fixed base full mission simulator of the intermediate jet trainer (IJT) would be part of the display at the HAL stall, along with models of medium-lift transport aircraft, which would be manufactured by the HAL and the United Aircraft Corporation of Russia.<br /><br />The HAL’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will make its first flight during Aero India. The second weaponised prototype would be unveiled, too, he said.<br /><br />The HAL has one LCH and one IJT at the static display and LCH and IJT at the flying display.</p>
<p>All that HAL will do is hand over one Cheetah helicopter and five Advance Light Helicopters-Dhruv (ALH) to the Namibian Air Force and the Indian Army, respectively.<br /><br />On whether the Nambia deal –– handing over a Cheetah which recently crashed killing two IAF pilots –– was worth scheduling for Aero India, HAL Chairman Ashok Nayak said: “I do not want to comment on that. What you need to know is that we are manufacturing a new aircraft for Namibia and every crash will be followed by a court of inquiry to find the reasons. A crash does not mean the aircraft is bad.”<br /><br />On the ALH, which the army had ordered a few years ago, Nayak said: “This is a Dhruv powered by the new Shakthi engines and has a glass cockpit. We are handing over five of the 159 now and we should hand over another 20-25 by March.”<br /><br />Besides this, the mock-up of Light Utility Helicopter, a fixed base full mission simulator of the intermediate jet trainer (IJT) would be part of the display at the HAL stall, along with models of medium-lift transport aircraft, which would be manufactured by the HAL and the United Aircraft Corporation of Russia.<br /><br />The HAL’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will make its first flight during Aero India. The second weaponised prototype would be unveiled, too, he said.<br /><br />The HAL has one LCH and one IJT at the static display and LCH and IJT at the flying display.</p>
