Indian indigenous Advanced light Helicopter (AlH) built by Indian aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics limited headquartered in Bangalore has achieved a milestone on Wednesday by flying one lakh hours.
AlH Dhruv designed, developed, produced and maintained by Hindustan Aeronautics ltd is the workhorse of Indian Defence forces.According to a statement by HAl, the landmark has been achieved in the early hours with the flying of helicopter IA 3104 of 301 Army Aviation Sqn (Spl ops).
“It is a proud moment for us that Dhruv has proved its mettle over the years. India is the sixth nation in the world to have the capability to develop helicopters of this class. Dhruv has been exported to Ecuador, Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives,” said RK Tyagi, chairman of HAl. “One lakh hours flown by the machine is an awesome feat to achieve. It is a dream machine for any pilot,” said lt Col Kapil Agarwal, who completed the landmark flying hours.
AlH is being operated by Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and State Governments since 2002. Currently, more than 132 Dhruv helicopters are serving the Indian Defence Forces. HAl has also built 12 civil variant Dhruv helicopters and they are being used by its customers. The Ecuador Air Force (FAE) operates six Dhruv helicopters.
Dhruv is extremely useful to the Indian Defence Forces in meeting the arduous tasks in difficult terrains of Himalayas like Siachen Glacier and Kashmir. It played a key role in rescue operations during Tsunami (2004), flash floods at leh (2010), earth quake at Sikkim (2011) and the biggest ever helicopter based rescue operation undertaken by Indian Defence Forces in flood & rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand recently.
AlH Dhruv is an all weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at a height of 10,000 feet. It is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class and meets Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) specifications. It has demonstrated its capability in long distance flights, vertical climb and in manoeuvring.