INDIA- HELICOPTER Competitions::News and Discussions

[sancho]

A report from february and I'm not sure if this was posted before, but I give it a try:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...qI/AAAAAAAABsA/Ca7ypVXJyLI/s1600/mi-26t11.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...zI/AAAAAAAABsE/8yDpAqtDUy4/s1600/mi-26t12.jpg

 

[jha]

^^^ After sales support is crucial for this and future tenders..

 

[Abingdonboy]

^^^ After sales support is crucial for this and future tenders..

Absolutely, but I think MoD has woken up to this and India is now powerful enough that sellers can't afford to pi$$ them off.

 

[angeldemon_007]

^^^ After sales support is crucial for this and future tenders..

I doubt we will face any problem atleast in helicopter sector....

 

[JayAtl]

if the US chopper is good enough for the US military -given that they always have to have that " must be deployable globally in several war scenarios" standard - would it not be better for India's military- given the maintenance is cheaper and after sales is headache free?

 

[angeldemon_007]

^^^
they are expensive. Now we won't have any problem of maintenance or spares. Russian companies have opened their service center in India. Apart from this even European and Us companies and some Indian companies have also the capacity. Infact IAF's present Mi17 fleet is upgraded by Taneja aerospace.

 

[Hulk]

Package is quite extensive , would be interesting to note how IAF is planning to mingle mi28/Ah-64d into the network grid .
It would be useful when Ah64 can share the real time battle -field picture with UAV , UCAV , Armed Dhruv , LCH , NAMICA and of course our F-INSAS

Advantage US forces have is they have - A dedicated Batlle field management and terrain mapping platform viz - ASTOR radar / E8-JSTARS which gives them a network capability with which Ah64 and Marines are in updated situation sec per sec .

Will our forces be able to utilize such advantage which Ah-64 comes built in (NATO std link16 i meant)

Dude it very highly likely that we are going to go the AH64 route and the number will also be increased to 66.

 

[Hulk]

if the US chopper is good enough for the US military -given that they always have to have that " must be deployable globally in several war scenarios" standard - would it not be better for India's military- given the maintenance is cheaper and after sales is headache free?

Yes that is why US will be one of the most important vendors for us in near future. However we would not like to keep all our eggs in one basket, but this competition is surely going their way.

 

[saumyasupratik]

Dude it very highly likely that we are going to go the AH64 route and the number will also be increased to 66.

66 AH64D Apache Longbows + 100-150 LCH for Airforce and 200 LCH for Army Aviation Corps I guess is enough for us.

 

[sancho]

would it not be better for India's military- given the maintenance is cheaper and after sales is headache free?

Costs an maintenance are an important point and must be negotiated, but the biggest point for the Mi 26 is the simple fact, that it is waaaaay more capable then the Chinook! We are talking about an helicopter that can carry the load of an C130J (90 troops vs 92 for the C130J, 20t payload vs 21, trucks, or APC vs Humvees...) and that to places where no fixed wing aircraft can land. It's not just a normal helicopter, but a tactical advantage the forces would have in any conflict in the northern areas. So cost alone, shouldn't be the deciding factor here!

 

[sancho]

A lot of pics of the Mi 28 and the Ka 52:

Денис Мокрушин - Летный центр в Торжке. Ми-28Н

Денис Мокрушин - Летный центр в Торжке. Ка-52

 

[angeldemon_007]

Dude it very highly likely that we are going to go the AH64 route and the number will also be increased to 66.

What is the reason behind this magic number 66 ?? I never even heard the number will be increased although i wish it would....can you give us a source for this ?

66 AH64D Apache Longbows + 100-150 LCH for Airforce and 200 LCH for Army Aviation Corps I guess is enough for u

IA has ordered 114 LCH and IAF has ordered 64 which totals to 178, although HAL is saying the total might increase to 250 but its just HAL, they are also sure that IAF will place an additional order of 50 Su30mki

 

[Abingdonboy]

What is the reason behind this magic number 66 ?? I never even heard the number will be increased although i wish it would....can you give us a source for this ?


IA has ordered 114 LCH and IAF has ordered 64 which totals to 178, although HAL is saying the total might increase to 250 but its just HAL, they are also sure that IAF will place an additional order of 50 Su30mki

I doubt there are any official sources right now commenting on a possible additional order of Ah-64 but that doesn't mean it won't happen. I think this is purely a shrewd business tactic as if IAF stated need for more it would put Boeing in an advantageous position when it came to negotiations. However, I do glee there is a good chance of additional orders- it seems this is how Indian defence spending works- small initial order, followed by additional larger order once deliveries have begun and product tested out.


50-70 additional order would be pretty sweet but I would wish at least 1-2 SQD could be operated by IA.

 

[DacterSaab]

i don't think there's any official source that it will be the AH-64 APACHE, I think officially it's still possible we get Mi-28s instead whatever they choose I don't care.
But yes i must say that IAF should go for Mi-26 because it will allow us capabilities almost twice that of the Chinooks.
The US doesn't have 20 million Infantry (including reserves) to airlift so the Chinook suits them. We do so we need better Capability.
Also the US doen't have an Immediate hostile neighbor within it's continent Add to that 35million enemy Infantry and the situation complicates even further.

 

[angeldemon_007]

50-70 additional order would be pretty sweet but I would wish at least 1-2 SQD could be operated by IA.

My personnel opinion....IA should operate 100 Ah-64. Some might think it is too much but we have world's biggest voluntary army and according to reports number is increasing as oppose to western countries.

I have written this many times earlier also, we need to acquire more and more heavy lift and medium lift helicopters for our army for rapid mobilization. Most part of troubled areas in India like J&K, North East and Naxal Infested areas have one thing in common, poor infrastructure. We cannot build airports, roads & railways everywhere but we can land helicopters in every troubled zone.

US army alone operate more than 4500 helicopters. Our army which is bigger than US should at-least operate 1000 choppers but we operate something around 213 helicopters at the moment and none of them are transport except dhruv which are around <45.

IAF is placing order for 12 heavy lift helicopters. I mean its a joke, this number is so small that it will be difficult for them to even decide where to station them, which base should get the priority ? I don't really care about IAF because main user is IA, they are the one who has to walk 40 miles just to reach the post while you can reach their within minutes if you operate helicopters which they should because if these posts and bases gets attacked in the future our forces will be very vulnerable and we can very easily lose those areas.