HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter: India’s state owned aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Wednesday announced completion of testing of its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in hot and high weather capabilities in high Himalayas.
HAL said that the 10 day long testing process was recently completed in difficult terrain of Siachen glacier and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) airstrip in Leh, Ladakh on India’s border with China.
“A comprehensive test plan was executed at Leh (3300 MAMSL) in temperatures up to ISA+320C which included envelope expansion, performance and flying qualities of Light Utility Helicopter (LUH),” HAL said in a statement.
HAL’s indigenously designed and built Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) was tested in the world’s highest airstrip at China border.
“LUH took off from Leh and demonstrated its hot and high hover performance at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at 5000 MAMSL,” said the state owned aircraft major.
HAL also tested the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in the world’s highest battlefield between India and Pakistan, the Siachen glacier.
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HAL said the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) also demonstrated its payload capability in Siachen glacier high altitude.
During the trials, pilots landed the helicopter at the highest helipads of Amar and Sonam, HAL said.
The Bengalura based aviation major said with the successful testing of Light Utility Helicopter in the world’s highest battlefields and airstrips it has once again proved its capability in indigenous design & development.
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HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter LUH in Himalaya.
Light Utility Helicopter’s (LUH) Army version ready for operational clearance
HAL’s Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan said Army version of LUH is now ready for Initial Operational Clearance.
“The performance of the helicopter and its systems are satisfactory fulfilling the requirements of the users. All planned tests were successfully demonstrated,” said Arup Chatterjee, Director (Engineering and R&D), HAL.
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HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter tested in Himalayas
The flights were carried out by composite trial team which included pilots from HAL, Wing Commander (Retd) Unni Pillai, CTP (RW), Wingg Commander (Retd) Anil Bhambani, Group Capttain (Retd) Pupinder Singh and Group Captain V Panwar of Indian Air Force.
Group Captain R Dubey, Sqadron Leader Joshi (from Indian Air Force) and Lieutenant Colonel R Grewal and Lieutenant Colonel Pawan of Indian Army also participated in these grueling tests. Officials from from the certification authority witnessed the trials.
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HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH)
HAL’s LUH is a new generation helicopter in the 3-Ton class incorporating the state of the art technology features like Glass cockpit with Multi-Function Displays (MFD).
HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) is powered by single Turbo Shaft engine with sufficient power margin to cater to demanding high altitude missions.
LUH will meet the emerging needs in this class of helicopters in the coming decades.
The helicopter will be capable of flying at 220 kilometer per hour with a service ceiling of 6.5 kilometers and a range of 350 kilometers with a 500 kilogram payload.
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