Rajnath Singh inaugurates LCH assembly line, lauds HAL

Bengaluru, DHNS: A cultural festival may be an unlikely forum to launch military hardware but that was the setting for the inauguration of the assembly line for the new Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) being developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Following the main programme at Kannada Nadahabba, a cultural event organised by HAL employees on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh threw open the new assembly line which will augment the LCH production capacity to reach a peak production of 30 helicopters per year, according to G V S Bhaskar, CEO of the Helicopter Complex.

Bhaskar specified that the techno Commercial Proposal for 15 Limited Series Production (LSP) helicopters has already been submitted by HAL in March 2018, and the order is awaited. Rajnath Singh praised HAL as having performed well in the last five years, but suggested that the company would soon start to see competition from other players entering the indigenous aviation market. "HAL should see the competition as an opportunity," he said.

The total projected requirement for LCH was said to be 160 helicopters.

About arrears

While representatives of the HAL workers' union were pleased about the opening of the new line, they, however, raised the matter of the Rs 14,000 crore in arrears that the Defence Ministry owed to HAL. "I will consult with the management of HAL and try to find a solution," Singh said.

Singh was in Bengaluru to attend Chief Minister B S Yediyurppa's 78th birthday bash.

About home-grown LCHs

The Light Combat Helicopter is a 5.5-ton class combat helicopter under development by HAL. Powered by two 'Shakti' engines, the aircraft inherits many technical features of the Advanced Light Helicopter. The features that are unique to LCH are sleek and narrow fuselage, tri-cycle crashworthy landing gear and self-sealing fuel tanks, armor protection and low visibility features which makes it agile and survivable. LCH has the distinction of being the first attack helicopter to land in forward bases at Siachen, 4,700 metres above sea level with 500-kg payload. As part of development, four LCH prototypes have been built and extensively flight-tested with over 1620 cumulative flights.