The first indigenous chopper of India, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH –Dhruv) designed, developed, produced and maintained by the state owned Defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to meet the requirement of military and civil operators, achieved a new milestone of flying 100,000 hours today (October 9, 2013). The land mark has been achieved i with the flying of helicopter IA 3104 of 301 Army Aviation Sqn (Spl ops). “It is a proud moment for us that Dhruv has proved its mettle over the years. India is the sixth nation in the world to have the capability to develop helicopters of this class. Dhruv has been exported to Ecuador, Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives”, said Dr. R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL. He also thanked Indian armed forces, BSF and other precious customers for their continued support to this product.
“One lakh hours flown by the machine is an awesome feat to achieve. It is a dream machine for any pilot”, said Lt Col Kapil Agarwal who completed the landmark flying hours.
ALH is being operated by Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and state governments since 2002. Currently, more than 132 Dhruv helicopters are serving the Indian Defence Forces. HAL has also built 12 civil variant Dhruv helicopters and they are being used by its customers. The Ecuador Air Force (FAE) operates six Dhruv helicopters with their President choosing to fly in them.
Dhruv is extremely useful to the Indian defence forces in meeting the arduous tasks in difficult terrains of Himalayas like Siachen Glacier and Kashmir. It played a key role in rescue operations during Tsunami (2004), flash floods at Leh (2010), earth quake at Sikkim (2011) and the biggest ever helicopter based rescue operation undertaken by Indian defence forces in flood & rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand recently.
ALH Dhruv is an all weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at heights of 10,000 feet. It is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class and meets Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) specifications. It has demonstrated its capability in long distance flights, vertical climb and in manoeuvring.
Role in Uttarakhand:
These copters deployed over flood and landslide affected areas in Uttarakhand recently and performed effectively in dropping paratroopers, evacuating stranded people and in supply of food and medicines. The helicopters made hundreds of sorties in the high risk zone overcoming strong winds, visibility and with virtually no space for landing on high terrains. One never knows the exact number of people perished. Initially the UN estimated the death toll to be around 10,000 while some local agencies put the figure much lower. Whereabouts of hundreds are still not known. The rain-ravaged Hindu shrine Kedarnath is the main attraction for millions of devotees, especially for thise northern India. Kedarnath and its surrounding areas suffered the worst in the natural disaster which also left a trail of destruction in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state of India. The state has some of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Dhruv was the star performer. On many occasions, due to incessant rain IAF pilots could only use Dhruv as it was unsafe for other copters to land. Dhruv helicopters flew for nearly 630 hours during the operation.
The first indigenous chopper of India, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH –Dhruv) designed, developed, produced and maintained by the state owned Defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to meet the requirement of military and civil operators, achieved a new milestone of flying 100,000 hours today (October 9, 2013). The land mark has been achieved i with the flying of helicopter IA 3104 of 301 Army Aviation Sqn (Spl ops). “It is a proud moment for us that Dhruv has proved its mettle over the years. India is the sixth nation in the world to have the capability to develop helicopters of this class. Dhruv has been exported to Ecuador, Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives”, said Dr. R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL. He also thanked Indian armed forces, BSF and other precious customers for their continued support to this product.
“One lakh hours flown by the machine is an awesome feat to achieve. It is a dream machine for any pilot”, said Lt Col Kapil Agarwal who completed the landmark flying hours.
ALH is being operated by Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and state governments since 2002. Currently, more than 132 Dhruv helicopters are serving the Indian Defence Forces. HAL has also built 12 civil variant Dhruv helicopters and they are being used by its customers. The Ecuador Air Force (FAE) operates six Dhruv helicopters with their President choosing to fly in them.
Dhruv is extremely useful to the Indian defence forces in meeting the arduous tasks in difficult terrains of Himalayas like Siachen Glacier and Kashmir. It played a key role in rescue operations during Tsunami (2004), flash floods at Leh (2010), earth quake at Sikkim (2011) and the biggest ever helicopter based rescue operation undertaken by Indian defence forces in flood & rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand recently.
ALH Dhruv is an all weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at heights of 10,000 feet. It is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class and meets Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) specifications. It has demonstrated its capability in long distance flights, vertical climb and in manoeuvring.
Role in Uttarakhand:
These copters deployed over flood and landslide affected areas in Uttarakhand recently and performed effectively in dropping paratroopers, evacuating stranded people and in supply of food and medicines. The helicopters made hundreds of sorties in the high risk zone overcoming strong winds, visibility and with virtually no space for landing on high terrains. One never knows the exact number of people perished. Initially the UN estimated the death toll to be around 10,000 while some local agencies put the figure much lower. Whereabouts of hundreds are still not known. The rain-ravaged Hindu shrine Kedarnath is the main attraction for millions of devotees, especially for thise northern India. Kedarnath and its surrounding areas suffered the worst in the natural disaster which also left a trail of destruction in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state of India. The state has some of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Dhruv was the star performer. On many occasions, due to incessant rain IAF pilots could only use Dhruv as it was unsafe for other copters to land. Dhruv helicopters flew for nearly 630 hours during the operation.
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