Armed forces to get Made-in-India light combat helicopter today – all you need to know about twin-engine LCH
In a proud moment for the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will symbolically hand over an indigenouslydeveloped light combat helicopter (LCH) to the armed forces on Friday. The first Made-in-India LCH has been designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
The event will take place during the ‘Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv’, which is being held at Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh from November 17 to 19. The Prime Minister will also hand over indigenously-developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and advanced electronic warfare suites to the armed forces during the event.
Taking to Twitter on Thursday, PM Modi said, “I will be in Mahoba and Jhansi tomorrow, 19th November to inaugurate various development projects which will benefit the Bundelkhand region. This includes key projects relating to overcoming the problems of water shortage.”
Here’s all about the country’s first Made-in-India LCH:
- The twin-engine LCH, in the weight class of 5-8 tonne, is the only attack helicopter in the world that can land and take-off at an altitude of 5,000-metre or 16,400-feet with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
- It has the ability to fly up to an altitude of 15 to 16 thousand feet.
- It is effective even in temperatures ranging from minus 50 degrees Celsius on snow peaks to 50 degrees Celsius in the desert.
- It is equipped with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.
- The LCH has a 20 mm gun, 70 mm rocket and air to air missile.
- If combined with its avionics and arm, it can find and destroy the target whether it is in the air or on the ground.
- During the mission, this attack helicopter is manually operated.
- It can be erected at 180 degrees or it can also be reversed. It can revolve at 360 degrees that means it can also be rotated rapidly in the air itself.
