The Hindu : Front Page : Army to import helicopters for Siachen duty

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 03, 2004

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Front Page

Army to import helicopters for Siachen duty

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, OCT. 2. Even as India and Pakistan discuss the possibility of demilitarising the Siachen Glacier, called the highest battleground in the world, the Army is going ahead with long-term plans to ferry its troops and keep them replenished in the region with supplies of food and ammunition.

The Army has received helicopters, especially designed for operation in high altitude areas from three major manufacturers based in Russia, the United States and Europe. Based at an Army base in Punjab, these helicopters are being checked for technical specifications. They will be taken to Leh, which is flanked by the high altitude areas of Kargil and Siachen — after winter sets in for trials, said Army sources.

The Army's plans to import helicopters for high altitude operations could mean that it does not believe that the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited would be able to deliver a similar helicopter in the near future. It also means that the HAL-built advanced light helicopter (ALH) is still not configured for high altitude operations. The Army began looking for an imported alternative three years ago after an ALH prototype failed high altitude thrust and vibration tests.

The Army is now using the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters for such purposes. Though they have been upgraded by the HAL, their design is 40 to 45 years old. The need for a new chopper has been acutely felt, especially after the 1999 Kargil conflict when the Army's surveillance and casualty evacuation duties in the region increased manifold.

Sources said the three foreign-manufactured helicopters in the race are the Bell 407, a Kamov version and the Eurocopter being manufactured by several countries. In fact, sensing the Army's need for imported choppers, a Bell 407 recently landed on a northern Nepal Himalayan mountain range at an altitude of over 22,000 feet, the same height as the Siachen Glacier, as if to prove that it would be the right choice. The Kamov-50 and the Eurocopter also claim a similar flight ceiling.

However, highly-placed HAL sources said the Army's plans to import high altitude helicopters did not diminish the capability of their indigenously-designed ALH, named Dhruv. It had been accepted by the Nepalese Army and was among the frontrunners in a tender by the Chilean Army. Besides, the 201 Army Aviation Corps based at Nashik already had a squadron of 10 ALHs. Another Army unit would also soon have an all-ALH complement. "They are looking at smaller helicopters that can carry five to six persons and are in the two-three tonne class. Our ALHs are in the six tonne class,'' said an official.

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