India to acquire 22 attack helicopters

[Khalsa]

India to acquire 22 attack helicopters

BERLIN, May 29: In a bid to strengthen the offensive prowess of its Armed Forces, Indian Government has issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) to acquire 22 attack helicopters.

The RFP document, which includes offset clauses, was issued last week to major global helicopter manufacturers who were given three months time to respond, sources said here.

Confirming this, a senior Eurocopter official said "we have received the RFP and are looking into it. We have to reply by August."

"We will be participating in the bid process and will offer our Tiger helicopter. We are studying the RFP document and preparing our plan of action," Bruno Boulnois, General Manager of Eurocopter (India) said.

Besides Eurocopter which is part of the Defence and Aviation consortium EADs, the other major contenders for this competition are Boeing’s AH-54D, Augusta Westland’s AW-129 Mangustu and Russia’s MI-28N Nighthunters.


AW-129 Mangustu

MI-28N Nighthunters


The Eurocopter has been involved with Indian Army and the Air Force for several decades now, with its Chetaks and Cheetahs flying in several areas, particularly in high mountainous terrains.

These choppers are the mainstay of the forces situated in the high altitude areas, including Siachen, both for supplies and transportation.

Boulnois said the Tiger, which had day and night fighting capabilities, was designed for various kinds of missions like reconnaissance, escort, air-to-air combat, ground firing support and anti-tank warfare.

This chopper could be fitted with roof-mounted sight and nose-mounted turret guns, besides 68mm and 70mm rockets and hellfire anti-tank and air-to-air missiles.(PTI)

 

[Muradk]

Thats what happens when you make a Helicopter pilot the CAS. IAF needs planes and spare parts at this time.

 

[ejaz007]

India to Buy 22 Attack Helos for $550M
By vivek raghuvanshi
Published: 30 May 12:27 EDT (08:27 GMT)

NEW DELHI - The Indian Defence Ministry has issued a request for proposal (RfP) to buy 22 attack helicopters for about $25 million per platform, including weapons, to boost the Air Force's surveillance and combat capabilities.

Issued May 23, the RfP was sent to AgustaWestland, Boeing, Eurocopter, Khazan and Bell Helicopter.

An Air Force official said the helicopter should weigh 2,500 kilograms or more when empty and have two engines. It must be highly agile, have advanced anti-armor capability, and include provision for a turret gun of 20mm or higher caliber and be able to fire 70mm rockets at a range of 1.2 kilometers.

In addition, it should be able to employ air-to-ground, fire-and-forget missiles with a range of at least 7 kilometers.

To survive the modern battlefield, the Air Force wants the helos to carry a state-of-the-art electronic warfare protection suite and carry a radar warning receiver capable of intercepting, identifying and prioritizing multiple airborne and ground-based radio frequency emitters.

The Air Force wants the helicopters to be operational in all weather, day and night, and be able to function in desert and mountainous terrain.

The first two helicopters would be supplied within 24 months of signing of the contract, with final delivery within 36 months. The contract is expected to take two years to finalize.

The vendor will be expected to provide a 30 percent offset, which would be about $165 million for a contract of $550 million.

"The Indian Air Force has been wanting to buy attack helicopters to boost its air surveillance and fighting capability for a long time" a senior Defence Ministry official said.

The Defence Ministry recently cleared the purchase of 384 additional light helicopters worth $2 billion for both the Air Force and Army. The RfP for this second purchase is expected to be issued in June, the Defence Ministry official said; 125 copters would go to the Air Force and 259 to the Army.

India to Buy 22 Attack Helos for $550M - Defense News

Hopefully this time a deal would be signed and contract awarded or it’s just another exercise to keep oneself busy.

 

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

Honestly....I want to see the Apachies......in Indian colours!!!

 

[TALWAR]

Thats what happens when you make a Helicopter pilot the CAS. IAF needs planes and spare parts at this time.

Did you not hear about MRCA, the world's largest fighter procurement.
Ignorance is bliss.

Attack helicopters are basically like getting some Cats to kill the terrorist Rats.

 

[EagleEyes]

Honestly....I want to see the Apachies......in Indian colours!!!

It is an awesome machine indeed however with the maintenance issue i doubt that it will be selected.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

Did you not hear about MRCA, the world's largest fighter procurement.
Ignorance is bliss.

Attack helicopters are basically like getting some Cats to kill the terrorist Rats.

what a immature comment! terrorists are not using any high tech military vehicle so their is no need for a advance helicopter in this matter.

 

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

what a immature comment! terrorists are not using any high tech military vehicle so their is no need for a advance helicopter in this matter.

Nice one!!! Yes, India never used an attack chopper for anti-terrorist operations, and I dont think this is gonna be for ant-terror ....this has to do more with providing essential backup and special operations for the army.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

Nice one!!! Yes, India never used an attack chopper for anti-terrorist operations, and I dont think this is gonna be for ant-terror ....this has to do more with providing essential backup and special operations for the army.

yep thats what i meant.... why use Longbows in anti-terror missions when ah-1 or mi-24 can do the same job cost effectively..

 

[vish]

I doubt these helicopters are going to be used for COIN operations.

I think this is a token order. The IAF might be looking to include heli-warfare in its doctrine for CAS and anti-armour operations. Once the doctrine is complete, perhaps more birds will be sought after.

But I'm just speculating here; I may be wrong.

 

[nitesh]

I think Mi28N all the way because of commonality of spare parts.

 

[TALWAR]

what a immature comment! terrorists are not using any high tech military vehicle so their is no need for a advance helicopter in this matter.

What do you think is the US army using to kill terrorists in Iraq.
Do you say the US army is immature ? Ha ha.
The attack helicopters are much more useful against mountain rats, where its difficult to fly jets. Because:

1. At high speeds, it becomes difficult track very small ground targets.
2. Its difficult to manoeuvre because of mountains.
3. Attack helicopter can be effective, as it can manoeuvre in between mountains.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

What do you think is the US army using to kill terrorists in Iraq.
Do you say the US army is immature ? Ha ha.
The attack helicopters are much more useful against mountain rats, where its difficult to fly jets. Because:

1. At high speeds, it becomes difficult track very small ground targets.
2. Its difficult to manoeuvre because of mountains.
3. Attack helicopter can be effective, as it can manoeuvre in between mountains.

dude. longbow type choppers are primarily used in "ELECTRONIC WARFARE" it has little no effect then a 3rd or 4th gen helis in anti-terror roles. its same as using B-2 to bomb a cave where as a B-52 can do the same job with 10 times more effect!

 

[indiapakistanfriendship]

dude. longbow type choppers are primarily used in "ELECTRONIC WARFARE" it has little no effect then a 3rd or 4th gen helis in anti-terror roles. its same as using B-2 to bomb a cave where as a B-52 can do the same job with 10 times more effect!

Electronic warfare? Mate longbow radar in Apache give it the ability to track targets at long ranges hiding or without exposing its primary silhoutte thereby on identifying a target it can pop out and take a shot, especially employed in antitank warfare and limited sead warfare.

The rest of your statement I agree. Longbow or Mi 17 it does not make a difference in anti terrorism ops .

Talwar India shal not employ gunships for COIN ops

 

[MIG_ACE]

I still think letting the IAF operate attack helis is a bad idea. Whether used in COIN ops or anti-armor roles its the army which really needs them to bolster its capability and they should be the ones operating them.