India's indigenous Light Utility Helicopter to meet the requirement of Armed Forces

The single engine Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) got wings at Defexpo-2020 on Friday after Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation's initial operational clearance to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for its production.

HAL CMD R. Madhavan received the initial operational clearance certification from G. Sateesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO, at the 'Bandhan' programme held at the ongoing DefExpo 2020 in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others.

The move will help armed forces to replace the ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.

HAL will be manufacturing indigenously designed and developed helicopters that will meet the operational requirements of armed forces.

"This is a momentous occasion for HAL. It reinforces our commitment towards indigenous R&D programmes on self-reliance and enhancing operational effectiveness of the Indian armed forces. HAL is fully geared to fulfil the requirements of its customers in a time-bound manner," said R Madhavan.

Arup Chatterjee, Director, Engineering & R&D, HAL, said the performance of basic configuration of LUH in all terrains and under all weather conditions is satisfactory and that HAL is moving towards the next phase.

One LUH Prototype is part of flying display and another is part of static display at the DefExpo 2020.

"Till now three prototypes have been built and cumulatively completed over 550 flights under various terrains and climatic conditions like cold and hot weather, at sea-level and high altitude complying with stringent certification and user requirements," HAL said.

HAL said the helicopter's endurance and reliability were established during the hot weather and high-altitude trials wherein LUH was ferried from Bengaluru, covering over 7000 km and continuously flying for 17 days without any abnormality.

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