There has apparently been a measure of comment about some of the external wiring visible on the LCH. To clarify, these are wirings for the trials only, and not part of standard fit. So criticism about bad fabrication etc are misinformed.
Photos by Shiv Aroor
The wiring and the landing gear are the most ugly part of this chopper. I wish they had plans of retractable landing gear
I dont think by photographic tricks and making jingoistic comments of self flattery, somehonw inescapable conclusions can be avoided.
While the LCH may be outstanding in crash survival (a dubious honor) it has little else to offer.
It is a mediocre helicopter off the Dhruva platform which in no way compares favorably with international competition.
There are many developing nations that have built far better and bigger helicopters. By naming it as LCH it does not somehow mitigate the fact that we cannot produce decent sized helicopters that the army, air force and navy need.
We have to float tenders for them.
What most certainly will happen is that guerillas and terrorists will shoot these flying coffins down.
HAL needs to wake up and instead of handing projects for medium and large sized helicopters to TATA, MAHINDRA which will translate to nothing but licensed sales or assembly, start the design process of larger sized helicopters.
Again, while it is commendable that HAL has TOT of Shakti we should be able to manufacture engines of all HP.
NAG has not been integrated into LCH as per specs.
These are not idle goals but realities we must seek quickly. Also, it is improper to classify something as indigenous when actually it is mostly TOT/royalty etc.
It may bother and aggravate the grandiose goals of external and internal enemies of India masquerading as "Indian Love" because they will not be able to sell obsolete technology to India but that is life.
Good Luck to them!.
This Birb is gonna Rock the sky!!
@shiv Any idea whether it will be used for anti naxal operations??
IOC 2011? a bit too optimistic isn;t it ? given how our programs start with a bang and then peter out ?
Loved watching the dive that the LCH performed! Good looking machine!
Excellent photos. Were you able to get an interview with Wing Commander Unni? If yes then please post an abstract of it. Thanks
is atleast the rear wheel retractable?
Why do they have the sensor package at top of the nose rather than at the bottom of the nose ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phj4ZchMBMI&feature=fvsr
best video one can see
Well ,
The Engine + Sensors + major weapons are not indian ..so how does LCH qualifies as an Indigenous chopper …
HAL is such a liar …i doubt what indigenous has gone into this machine except seat covers n paint job….
Being a mechie in a design MNC , i can assure u people here that it is not a big deal to assemble various imported components into one working machine…
These people just dont stop lying …
@ Chandan…why don't u work for Hal dude may be u give it your design expertise…now only rare aircrafts in the world will be called ingeniousness..whether it is Chinese of Pakistani or Israeli…
can anyone confirm the landing gear is not retractable?..i doubt that very much…
Well Mr.Any……
Dude what i do ..i do it the best way…its called power plant engineering…
Chinese n pukes don't qualify here…as far as Israel goes..R u actually trying to compare India n Israel..in terms to weapons n sensors….no competition..