NEW DELHI: India on Friday inked the mega Rs 62,700 crore contract to acquire 156 indigenous `Prachand’ light combat helicopters (LCHs) for its armed forces from Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), in the biggest-ever such deal that was signed soon after it got the final nod from the PM-led cabinet committee on security.
The CCS approved the procurement of 90 LCHs for the Army and 66 for IAF, which are armed with 20mm turret guns, 70mm rocket systems and air-to-air missiles for offensive operations and precision-strikes in high-altitude areas like eastern Ladakh and Siachen Glacier on the borders with China and Pakistan.
The 156 LCHs, along with associated equipment and training for Rs 62,700 crore, excluding taxes, will add to the 15 such choppers (10 IAF and 5 Army) already inducted under a Rs 3,887 crore contract in 2022. “Prachand is a powerful machine. This decision marks a major boost to India’s combat capabilities and self-reliance in defence,” defence minister Rajnath Singh said.
The CCS, incidentally, also approved the new defence cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka, ahead of PM Modi’s visit to the island nation next week.
TOI was the first to report that the deals for the 156 LCHs and 307 indigenous advanced towed artillery systems with gun-towing vehicles (Rs 6,900 crore) would be cleared by the CCS and inked before this fiscal ends on March 31.
The deals for the direct acquisition of 26 Rafale-Marine fighters from France as well as the construction of three additional Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Docks, collectively worth almost Rs 1 lakh crore (Euro 10.6 billion), however, have been deferred to be the next fiscal now.
As per the contracts inked in presence of defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, the 156 LCHs will be built at HAL helicopter factories in Bengaluru and Tumkur in Karnataka. “The deliveries will begin in three years, with 30 LCHs to be manufactured per year,” an official told TOI.
“LCH is India’s first indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter capable of operating at an altitude of over 5,000 meters (16,400-feet) with a considerable load of weapons and fuel,” he said.
The highly-agile and manoeuvrable 5.8-tonne Prachand has 45% indigenous content by value at present. “The plan is to achieve an overall indigenous content of over 65% during the execution of this 156-LCH procurement,” he added.
Separately, the MoD also signed a contract with US company Metrea Management for “wet leasing” of one KC-135 mid-air refuelling aircraft, which will come within six months, for providing training to IAF and Navy pilots
The total number of contracts signed by the MoD during the 2024-25 fiscal has now reached 193, with the overall value crossing Rs 2 lakh crore. “This is the highest ever such figure, and nearly double the previous such number. Of them, the contracts to domestic industry are 177 (92%), with a value of almost Rs 1.7 lakh crore (81%),” another official said.
Powered by two Shakti engines developed with the French Safran Group, the Prachand can take on enemy infantry troops, tanks, bunkers and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). The need for such helicopters for mountain warfare was first acutely felt during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.
The chopper also has “enhanced survivability” through light-weight armour panels against 7.62mm and 12.7mm rounds, self-sealing fuel tanks, damage-tolerant main rotor blades, bullet-proof windshields and a low frontal radar cross-section.