Safety fears keep most of India’s go-to military helicopters grounded

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Following a fatal crash in January, India’s entire fleet of Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters – ALH for short – remains grounded, but the military has allowed some to fly after a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 23.

The Indian Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard rely heavily on 330-plus of the rotorcraft workhorses in their fleets. No end to their prolonged suspension is in view while an accident investigation unfolds.

It was therefore notable that some Dhruvs were recently seen flying, suggesting temporary clearance was granted for counterterrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

To date, the ALH fleet manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has flown 450,000 hours, but the platform has suffered 28 crashes in the past 25 years.

According to HAL, preliminary investigations blamed the latest crash on a swashplate fracture – a transmission part that translates pilot inputs into rotor blade motion.

D.K Sunil, HAL’s chairman and managing director, claimed in February that the ALH design had no fault. “However, we’re working with the Indian Coast Guard to examine their maintenance practices and determine whether any changes are required.”

A final Defect Investigation Committee report is due in May, at which point “we’ll further take a call on the clearance,” Sunil said. Depending on any rectification work required, the ALH fleet may end up being grounded at least six months.

The measure has already strained the military’s fleet and forced the leasing of civilian helicopters as gap fillers.

The grounding has also prompted criticism toward the manufacturer.

Earlier this year, air force head Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh bluntly said: “At the moment, I’m just not confident in HAL.”

He urged the company to “alleviate those worries.”

HAL lashed out in an April 10 press release, calling out “speculative stories with malicious intentions” about safety issues.

The company’s order book backlog has grown to seven years, and it has other helicopter projects on the go. These include the Light Utility Helicopter, which achieved its maiden flight in September 2016. However, serial production is yet to proceed. In the next decade will come more than 300 13-ton-class Indian Multi-Role Helicopters, too.

HAL logged its latest helicopter orders on March 28, with two deals for Prachand Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) – 90 for the army and 66 for the air force.

The two contracts are reportedly worth an equivalent of over $7 billion.

India’s Ministry of Defence said the first LCHs would be delivered three years after contract signature, with production continuing five years thereafter. Furthermore, it is “planned to achieve an overall indigenous content of over 65% during the execution of this procurement,” the government said.

HAL previously delivered 15 limited-series production LCHs to India’s military, the first of these handed over in 2021.

HAL has declared a goal of aircraft exports accounting for 25% of the company’s revenue. However, overseas sales currently account for a mere 1%.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——继1月份发生致命坠机事故后，印度的整个“北极星”先进轻型直升机（简称ALH）机队仍然停飞，但在4月23日克什米尔帕哈尔加姆发生致命恐怖袭击后，军方已允许部分直升机飞行。

印度陆军、空军、海军和海岸警卫队严重依赖其机队中330多架这种主力旋翼机。由于事故调查仍在进行中，这些旋翼机的长期停飞仍遥遥无期。

因此，最近看到一些北极星直升机在空中飞行，这表明查谟和克什米尔地区已获得临时许可开展反恐行动，这一点值得注意。

迄今为止，印度斯坦航空有限公司 (HAL) 制造的 ALH 机队已飞行 45 万小时，但该平台在过去 25 年中发生了 28 起坠机事故。

据印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）称，初步调查将最近这起坠机事故归咎于斜盘断裂——斜盘是将飞行员的操作转化为旋翼叶片运动的传动部件。

印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）董事长兼总经理DK Sunil在2月份声称，ALH的设计没有任何缺陷。“但是，我们正在与印度海岸警卫队合作，审查他们的维护操作流程，并确定是否需要进行任何更改。”

苏尼尔表示，缺陷调查委员会的最终报告将于5月提交，届时“我们将进一步决定是否批准该机型复飞”。根据所需的整改工作量，ALH机队最终可能至少停飞六个月。

这项措施已经使军方机队捉襟见肘，迫使军方租赁民用直升机来填补空缺。

此次停电事件也引发了对制造商的批评。

今年早些时候，空军参谋长阿马尔·普里特·辛格空军上将直言不讳地表示：“目前，我对印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）没有信心。”

他敦促该公司“消除这些担忧”。

HAL 在 4 月 10 日的新闻稿中猛烈抨击了有关安全问题的“恶意猜测”。

该公司订单积压已达七年，并且还有其他直升机项目正在进行中。其中包括轻型通用直升机，该机于2016年9月首飞，但尚未投入批量生产。未来十年，印度还将生产超过300架13吨级多用途直升机。

印度斯坦航空有限公司 (HAL) 于 3 月 28 日签下了最新的直升机订单，其中包括两份 Prachand 轻型战斗直升机 (LCH) 的合同——陆军 90 架，空军 66 架。

据报道，这两份合同总价值超过70亿美元。

印度国防部表示，首批轻型战斗直升机将在合同签署三年后交付，生产工作将在五年后继续进行。此外，政府还表示，“计划在此次采购过程中实现超过65%的国产化率。”

印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）此前已向印度军方交付了 15 架限量生产的轻型战斗直升机（LCH），其中第一架于 2021 年交付。

印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）已宣布其飞机出口目标，力争使飞机出口收入占公司总收入的25%。然而，目前海外销售额仅占1%。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。