Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) – Made in India Advance Chopper, Fighter

Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) – Made in India Advance Chopper, Fighter –

Reality Views by sm –
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May 23, India joined the few countries who have capability to produce and manufacture advance fighter helicopter or chopper with the successfully test flight of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH)

Know important facts about LCH -



Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is a combat helicopter developed in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for use by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army.

In October 2006 Funds for the design and development of the LCH to meet the requirements of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force were sanctioned

The first Technology Demonstrator (TD-1) of the LCH flew the 20 minute flight from HAL's Helicopter Complex, Bangalore on 29th March 2010.
The second flight took place on April 28, 2010
The third test flight of the LCH was successfully made on 23rd May 2010

In future it is possible that Cheetah and Chetak will be replaced with the LCH , if government wants to save the money, and decide not to import the choppers to replace the cheetah and chetak.

The LCH belongs to the 5.5 ton class.

LCH prototype development was based on the concept of design, ground testing and fabrication concurrently. This resulted in building the 1st machine within 40 months.

It’s expected that in year 2012 or 2013 LCH will be inducted in Indian arm forces, Indian Air force.

HAL has a firm order to deliver 65 LCH to the IAF and 114 to the Army

The LCH is a derivative of the HAL Dhruv, which was inducted into the Indian armed forces.

LCH will be fitted with a 20 mm Turret gun and can carry Rockets, Air-to Air / Air-to-Ground missiles on the weapon stations.
Its Shakti engine, jointly developed by HAL and Turbomeca of France, has been optimized for high altitude operations.


The helicopter would have day/night targeting systems for the crew including the Helmet pointed sight and Electro-optical pod consisting of CCD camera/FLIR/Laser range finder/laser designator.

The LRF & LD facilitate measurement of range to the target & guidance to the Laser guided Missiles respectively. A Digital Video Recorder would enable recording of the vital mission for debriefing purposes. The turret gun skewing is controlled by the helmet mounted sight of the gunner.

The LCH is fitted with Self Protection Suite consisting of Radar/Laser Missile warning systems and Countermeasures dispensing system.

The helicopter would be fitted with a Data Link for Network-centric operations facilitating transfer of the mission data to the other airborne platforms and ground stations operating in the Network, thus facilitating force multiplication.

The performance features of the LCH i.e. rate of climb, cruise speed, service ceiling are on par with pache, Kamov 30 or Mi-35.


LCH can hit a target six kilometers away with utmost precision both the ground and in air.

Designed for anti-tank and anti-infantry roles with a maximum speed of 275 kmph (148kt), it will also be capable of high-altitude warfare since its operational ceiling will be 16,000 to 18,000 feet (5,490m).

India faced the Kargil war in 1999 which made Indians aware that Indian needs dedicated fighter helicopter, chopper.

The DRDO is reported to be developing the HELINA missile, a Nag derivative with an extended range of 7 km, to augment the helicopter's air-to-ground capability.

The LCH is currently reported to be 580 kg over its target weight. HAL is struggling to trim the weight in order to keep the aircraft in compliance with the QRs.
“We will find ways of cutting down TD-1 by 180-200 kg; TD-2, which will fly in mid-2010, will be another 100 kg lighter; and TD-3, which will be ready by end-2010, will shave off another 65-75 kg,” Managing Director of HAL’s Helicopter Complex, R Srinivasan, told Business Standard in September.

Features of Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) –
• Crew: 2
• Length: 15.8 m (51ft 8in)
• Height: 4.7 m (15 ft 4 in)
• Empty weight: 2550 kg (5621 lb)
• Loaded weight: 4000 kg (8818 lb)
• Useful load: 2950 kg (6503 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 5,700 kg (12125 lb)
• Power plant: 2× HAL/Turbomeca Shakti turboshaft, 871 kW (1200 hp) each
• Maximum speed: 275 km/h (148 knots, 171 mph)
• Cruise speed: 260 km/h (140 knots, 161 mph)

Armament –

• Guns: M621 20 mm cannon on Nexter THL-20 turret
• Rockets: Unguided rockets
• Missiles: MBDA air-to-air missiles
• Air-to-surface missiles
• Anti-radiation missiles
• Helina ATGM(8)
• Bombs: Iron bombs
• cluster bomb units
• grenade launcher

Below are the photos of LCH –