From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Fen 5: HAL handed over three Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH Mk III) to the Indian Navy and two ALHs to the Indian Coast Guard as part of its 16 ALHs contract at the ongoing Aero India 2021 on Friday.
The helicopters were handed over by R Madhavan, CMD, HAL to Admiral Karambir Singh, chief of naval staff and K Natarajan, DG, Coast Guard in the presence of the defence minister, Rajnath Singh.
“The remaining helicopters from the contract are under various stages of production, flight tests and we plan to deliver all the helicopters within the contract delivery schedules despite production slowdown due to COVID restrictions,” said Madhavan.
ALH has clogged close to 3,00,000 cumulative flight hours and has proven its mettle in versatile operations.
The ALH Mk III is fitted with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit and powerful Shakti engine.
The contract involves the integration of 19 major systems with the existing ALH MK III that includes IFF MKXII and ATC Xpdr with ADS-B Out, V/UHF Communication System, Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance (TCAS-I), SAR Homer system, Automatic Deployable Emergency Locator Transmitter (ADELT), Loud Hailer, Radio altimeter, Rescue Basket, Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), IADS System, AFCS, Digital Video Recording System (SSDVR), Automatic Identification System (AIS), High-Intensity Search Light (HISL), Pressure Refueling System, Control grips, EO POD Rev III, Surveillance Radar System and 12.7 mm Gun system.
HAL’s LUH (army variant) receives IOC
The Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) of HAL received the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for the Indian Army from CEMILAC at the Aero India 2021 in the presence of the defence minister.
R Madhavan, CMD, HAL said the thrust is being given by HAL for indigenous R&D programmes towards self-reliance and enhancing operational effectiveness of the armed forces.
Arup Chatterjee, director (Engineering and R&D), said the performance of the basic helicopter in all terrains and under all weather conditions is satisfactory. HAL is currently in the phase of integrating and flight-testing mission role equipment on LUH.
HAL is fully geared up to fulfill the requirements of the customers in time-bound manner, he said.
The LUH is a 3-tonnne class new generation single-engine helicopter indigenously designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research and Design Centre of HAL with features suitable for operations in the diverse operating conditions unique to India.
The LUH will replace the ageing fleet of Cheetah/Chetak helicopters operated by the services.
The LUH is powered by a single turboshaft engine Ardiden 1U from M/s. Safran Helicopter Engine (SHE), France with adequate power margins to accomplish high altitude missions in the Himalayas with ease.
LUH is equipped with Smart Cockpit Display System (glass cockpit), state-of-the-art HUMS (Health & Usage Monitoring System) and is designed for various utility and armed roles.
All certification activities like Ground testing, Ground Test Vehicle endurance runs, system testing, Flight testing including hot weather trials, cold weather trials, sea level trials and hot weather high altitude trials have been completed. Based on the flight trials carried out, all PJSQR requirements for basic helicopter certification have complied satisfactorily.
HAL-Rolls Royce to expand partnership
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Rolls-Royce agreed to expand their partnership in India for collaboration in two significant areas – expanding the supply chain for both civil and defence aerospace and establishing an authorized maintenance centre for Adour Mk871 engines to support Rolls-Royce's global customers.
Through these new collaborations, the two companies will build on their rich partnership of over 60 years, wherein Rolls-Royce engines have been ‘Made in India’ and supported by HAL under license from Rolls-Royce.
R Madhavan, CMD, HAL, said, “We are looking at new areas of cooperation and exports to countries which Rolls-Royce and HAL together contribute to in the aerospace application.”
Kishore Jayaraman, president of Rolls-Royce India and South Asia said, "We value our long-standing partnership with HAL and are proud to have been serving the Indian armed forces together for several decades now."
"Our journey with HAL is the original ‘Make in India’ story that started in 1956 when our Orpheus engines were first manufactured in India. We are delighted to take this partnership to the next level through collaborations for sourcing as well as to set up servicing and maintenance support for our Adour engines. We share strong synergies with HAL and as we look at future programmes, we believe there is immense potential to further build on our shared capabilities."
Alex Zino, executive vice-president of Business Development and Future Programmes (Defence), Rolls-Royce said, “We are proud of our long and rich history of partnering in India and providing the power to protect through many decades. We have been making in India for more than 60 years and we believe that now is the time to move from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Create in India’. We are committed to co-develop future Defence Technology with India, in India, for India and the global market. In partnership, we will work to deliver economic benefit and achieve India’s vision of self-reliance in the defence sector.
"We are delighted to further expand our valued partnership with HAL as we continue co-building capabilities in the Indian ecosystem to support global markets, in addition to further serving the needs of a future-ready defence force in India."
Rolls-Royce and HAL have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish an Authorized Maintenance Centre for Adour Mk871 at HAL to support international military customers and operators. HAL already has the capabilities and capacity to support a larger customer base, with over 30 years’ experience in MRO of the Adour engines in India, under license from Rolls-Royce.
The two companies have also signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ (LoI) to work towards making Adour Mk871 engine parts in India for several international customers.
HAL and Rolls-Royce Expand Partnership with MRO and Supply Chain MoUs for Adour and Trent Engines. In addition, HAL has recently been awarded new business with Rolls-Royce to supply forgings including shrouds, cases and seals for Rolls-Royce’s Trent family of engines and for the Pearl 15 engines. These parts would be manufactured at HAL’s Foundry and Forge Division at its state-of-the-art facility in Bengaluru.
R Madhavan said the new business award by Rolls Royce for their flagship civil aero-engine programme, as an outcome of their global RFQ is a reiteration of the customer’s confidence in HAL’s Foundry and Forge Division’s proven track record of excellent quality and delivery performance besides cost competitiveness.
These partnerships will further strengthen Rolls-Royce’s regional service footprint and also help catapult India as a global hub for defence sourcing, assembly and MRO services.
Louise Donaghey, senior vice-president (defence), Rolls-Royce (joining virtually), Abhishek Singh, vice-president (defence), Rolls-Royce and B Krishna Kumar general manager, HAL Engine Division were present during the event.
Chief of air staff launches ‘HAVAI’ portal
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria formally launched the operationalisation of the ‘HAVAI’ portal in the presence of R Madhavan, CMD, HAL, director (Ops)-HAL, DCAS-IAF and AOC-in C, MC-IAF during the ongoing Aero India 2021.
The E-portal is developed as part of an inter-organization information sharing system (IOIS) under the ‘Digital India’ initiative. Such an initiative has been taken up between two government organisations (IAF and HAL) for the first time.
The e-portal will optimize long-term material planning and reduce the repair and overhaul cycle time. It will also reduce the time for finalization of tasking and budgetary quotation processes.
The CAS said, “The E-portal will bolster the competencies of the Indian Air Force and HAL and lead to increased serviceability of IAF weapon systems. This would facilitate secure information sharing between IAF and HAL for better coordination, improved transparency and faster decision-making.”
“The Customer-centric portal would go a long way in leveraging the benefits of information sharing in real-time. It will also enable the visibility of HAL repair milestones, provide instantaneous budgetary quotations against IAF orders and give information on the status of supply against aircraft on the ground and repair tasks undertaken by HAL divisions," explained Madhavan.