The modern helicopters have evolved from being just a transport vehicle for utility roles to much powerful weapon platforms with lethal attack capability. The high powered engines, hingeless rotor, advanced aerodynamic design and fuselage made of high composite content make the helicopter of the present day, a highly agile & manoeuvrable machine. Adding to this, the state-of-the-art digital avionics/mission systems & sensors, digital display systems and on-board monitoring & alert systems reduce the pilot workload for increased mission effectiveness. Thus helicopters have become today highly versatile and hence used for multi-role, multi-mission operations.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has made its presence felt in the area of indigenous design & development of helicopters with the successful induction of its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) in the year 2002. The ALH with its advanced technology features such as hingeless rotors, Glass Cockpit, modern engine with FADEC, crashworthy structure and real-time monitoring features has been operationalised by Indian Armed Services as well as by Ecuadorian Air Force. Further improvements on ALH with respect to enhanced operational capability for high altitude operations have been realised through integration of higher powered engines, active vibration control & vibration monitoring in the later versions of the helicopter.
Based on the experience and knowledge gained on ALH, the Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre of HAL has embarked on the design and development of dedicated combat helicopter, namely, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). Commonality with ALH has been maintained on dynamic systems such as Transmission, Engines and Rotor systems whereas structures and landing gear have been designed to suit combat requirements. The LCH has been designed to fulfil combat roles such as Air Defense, Anti-tank, counter insurgency, scout duties etc. equipped with electronic warfare suite, helmet mounted sight, EO Pod, data link, IR Suppressor, IR counter measures and stealth features as well as a full compliment of weapons such as Turret Gun, Air-to-Air Missiles, Air-to-ground Missiles and Rockets. The helicopter design has been carried out using Product data Management (PDM) tools and the first prototype had its maiden flight on 29th March 2010. The paper presents the details of technology features, design objectives, testing and program aspects of LCH. The collaborative efforts involving various User organisations, Certification authorities, external institutions, subcontractors and vendors are also highlighted.
The LCH has ushered in a new era in the indigenous design and development of dedicated combat helicopters in India strengthening self-reliance of the subcontinent.
Aero India
