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| Image: Wiki Commons |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
The HAL Light Combat Helicopter recently completed crucial trials.
A prototype of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), currently under development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF), recently completed hot and high altitude trials, the Business Standard reports.
The twin-engine 5.8-ton third and final LCH prototype performed several landing and take-off tests at military outposts in Ladakh and, for the first-time ever for an attack-helicopter, landed at a military base in the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir.
“The flight trials at Leh have established hover performance and low speed handling characteristics of the helicopter under extreme weather conditions at different altitudes (3200 to 4800 m). During the trials, the helicopter and systems performed satisfactorily,” according to the chairman of HAL, T. Suvarna Raju.
In February 2015, the LCH successfully completed “cold weather flight trials” in Ladakh and in June “hot weather flight trials” around Jodhpur. “The performance and handling qualities of the helicopter have been established for basic configuration (with electro-optical pod, rocket launchers, turret gun and air-to-air missile launchers)… Further development activities are under progress and the weapon firing trials are planned during in the middle of 2016,” according to a HAL press release quoted in theBusiness Standard.
Read the full story at The Diplomat