Indian Army's advice on Bell-407, Eurocopter accepted

[Keysersoze]

naah Neo you mean the wz-10 not the Z-9 thats a copy of the French AS 365N Dauphin-II

The z-9 has a ceiling of 6000 metres which is not high enough

Actually most of the helo's I have checked have the same ceiling anyway The changes listed are probably to allow it to be used in thinner air.

 

[sword9]

US Selected the EuroCopter over their own Homegrown Product BELL

Don't mix up issues. Eurocopter and Bell made different models for different operational roles.

The choppers tested in India were Bell Textron's 407 and Eurocopter's AS 550 Fennec (most probably the C3 combat version). These are light combat support choppers, that the IA badly needed since the IAF did'nt want to let go of the Hinds, besides Kargil exposed the disadvantage of the Hinds in high altitute.

These 197 choppers are not needed for transport, that role will go to the medium lift ALH Dhruv, but for reconnissance and light combat support some thing else was needed.

Eurocopter AS 550 Fennec
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/as550_fennec/images/AS550fennec_5.jpg

Bell Textron ARH-70 (derived from the the successful commercial 407 model)
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/d/d6/350px-RAH-70.jpg

 

[sword9]

Actually most of the helo's I have checked have the same ceiling anyway The changes listed are probably to allow it to be used in thinner air.

The WZ-10 is a dedicated anti-tank attack chopper, so it does not make sense to give it high altitute capabitlity, since one does not operate tanks in high altitute.

 

[Keysersoze]

The WZ-10 is a dedicated anti-tank attack chopper, so it does not make sense to give it high altitute capabitlity, since one does not operate tanks in high altitute.

True, but you forget that it also has a direct fire capability and can used to take out hard points, And suppress positions to allow advance etc etc.

 

[Contrarian]

There's nothing there to win or lose, why else would India will willing to retreat the Glacier.
Its taking a heavy toll on IA already.

India is not willing to retreat from the Glacier. This has been a record year for the army. ZERO deaths in Siachen. With new heli's comming in, the situation will only become much easier as the old Cheetah's/Chetak's are vintage. The new planes will ease up the logistics problems even more. IA does not want to vacate, it is Pakistan who was in a hurry to demilitarize that area, and again, India will not remove its troops from Siachen unless the areas are demarcated. This is official.

BTW,Adux, im a little confused, give me a rundown on all the heli's used in Siachen and their respective roles. The Cheetah's/Chetak's were for light transport and carrying euipment, arent the 197 choppers that are going to be bought meant to replace them??