Rough Weather

Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar (retd)

From manufacture of now outdated, obsolete and vintage Cheetah/ Chetak helicopters under licence from French Sud Aviation, (present day Airbus Helicopters), to the design and development the of state-of-the-art twin engine helicopter like the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), capable of operating at high altitudes including the Siachen glacier was a great feat in itself.

The first ALHs were inducted into the army in 2002. I had the first-hand experience of their operational capability and technical/ design problems faced in the initial years, as head of the Army Aviation Corps during 2004 to 2006. Today, there are more than 400 different variants of ALHs in service with the Indian armed forces and coast guard including a few with certain civilian establishments like state governments and public sector undertakings like Pawan Hans Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

Over the years, the ALH fleet has become not only the workhorse of the armed forces but also their lifeline for operations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LC), especially in view of the limited operations of the Chetak/ Cheetah fleet which have already reached the end of their technical life. The military alone operates around 350 of these helicopters with the army being the largest operator with a fleet of about 190 ALHs.

However, the recent spate of crashes involving the indigenously developed ALH, also called the Dhruv, the workhorse of the Indian military, has set off alarm bells, both in the military establishment and among the civil users. The latest ALH crash, belonging to the coast guard occurred on January 5 this year resulting in the death of all three crew members on board, raising serious concerns about safety and reliability of the helicopter itself. As per the available data, there have been 15 accidents in the last five years, a number of them fatal. No manufacturer can be proud of, or live with, this kind of a flight safety record even though a few accidents were attributable to pilot error.

Despite this dismal record, over the years, HAL has only resorted to quick fixes including introducing additional maintenance checks rather than comprehensively addressing the burning issues like technical design and metallurgy flaws, especially quality control. This has led to the frequent groundings of the entire ALH fleet, thereby seriously impacting the operational preparedness and capability of the military, especially in the current sensitive security scenario.

The present ALH grounding after the coast guard’s fatal accident, has resulted in its non-participation not only in the Army Day parade held in Pune on January 15, but also the Republic Day flypast on January 26. This sends a negative message to the environment and creates serious doubts on the safety credentials of the ALH. This no doubt will also affect its export potential. Several countries like Argentina, Philippines and Egypt which had shown interest in acquiring the ALH will now have serious doubts due to its poor safety record. This is the time for HAL to introspect and carry out a comprehensive and transparent investigation to identify the problem areas and issues plaguing the ALH fleet and take remedial actions on a war footing. HAL’s own credibility as an international aerospace manufacturing hub is at stake, especially when it is one of the biggest exhibitors at Aero India 2025.

Design and Development

HAL is involved in the design and development of the ALH, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and the Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) projects. While the ALH and LCH have already been inducted into service in 2002 and 2021 respectively, the LUH is struggling to overcome some major technical issues facing the helicopter—it should have been inducted about two years back. The IMRH in the 13-ton category is still in the design and development stage and is being developed to replace the existing fleet of medium lift