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HAL to showcase advanced aircraft at Aero show

	January 31, 2005

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will showcase its flagship product Advanced

Light Helicopter (ALH) and the Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) at the Aero India exposition next month.



The defence public sector behemoth will be demonstrating the capabilities of the multi-role, multi-mission helicopter christened Dhruv with static and flying display for the sales pitch at the international aero show from Feb 9-13 at the Yelahanka Air Force base on the outskirts of Bangalore.

“After many years, we have products to promote and market at the Aero India to global customers. Besides showcasing our structures and services, we will be hard-selling the ALH and IJT, which is awaiting early certification process,” said HAL Chairman Ashok K. Baweja.

Ever since HAL commenced series production of Dhruv in 2002 for supplying its variants to the three Indian defence services and the Coast Guard, it has been displaying the product at the international aero shows in Singapore, Paris, Faranborough (UK) and at the ongoing Abu Dhabi event for sales promotion.

Till 2004, the HAL has delivered about 40 ALHs to the defence services and the Coast Guard. It has an order to supply 50 more choppers of military version to the Indian Air Force, Navy and Army at an estimated cost of Rs.250 million ($5 million) each.

Though the HAL has entered into a marketing tie-up with the Israeli Aviation Industries (IAI) for selling the ALH in the global market, it sold only two variants to Nepal last year, one chopper to Israel, and is waiting for an order from Chile, where the copters were flown for demonstration in July last.

“We have offered the Army and naval variants to Chile, demonstrating their capabilities and applications in different altitudes and weather conditions. The Chilean authorities have evaluated their high performance. The due process is on for placing orders,” Baweja hinted.

This month, the HAL treated Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar with a flying display of the ALH in Bangalore to exhibit its capabilities.

During Escobar’s five-day visit to India recently, Chilean Ambassador Jorge Heine was quoted as saying that the Chilean Air Force was considering buying four ALHs at a base price of Rs.400 million each with Israeli avionics.

Buoyed by the positive response from Chile, the HAL is targeting other countries in South America with a competitive advantage over Bell Helicopter and Eurocopter.

“With over 45 foreign delegations scheduled to participate in the aero show, we have an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the ALH as the most competitive product in its class for military as well as civilian applications,” Baweja said.

Claimed to be a generation ahead of other similar helicopters in the world market, the 5.5-tonne Dhruv is a twin-engine, cost-effective chopper, embodying the latest in airframe design, rotor system, blade technology, flight control and crash-worthiness features.

Over a year ago, the HAL pitched for an export order from the US Customs Department through IAI to supply 10 helicopters of civilian version at an estimated cost of Rs.3 billion. The deal, however, could not materialise for want of clearance by the US Federal Aviation authorities.

According to a top HAL functionary, the market for ALH worldwide, especially in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, is estimated to be 500-600 helicopters over the next five years.

“In view of its multi-role and multi-mission applications, the Dhruv is ideally suited for countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, which have hundreds of islands. With a capacity to ferry 14 people at a time along with cargo, the ALH is a good buy for such countries, including some in the Gulf,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, IAI is targeting to sell about 120 Dhruvs in the global market in the next six to eight years.

The HAL plans to bring down the production cost of the Dhruv by reducing the import content from 65 percent currently to 50 percent and lower subsequently.

For greater indigenisation, the HAL had entered into a technology tie-up with the French aerospace firm, Turbomecca, for jointly designing, developing and producing in India the Shakti engines for the twin-engined ALH.

The Shakti engine, which will be the Indian version of the TM-333-2B2 engine of Turbomecca, named Ardiden after a peak in France, is specifically suited for higher altitudes with a greater payload.

The Rs.38-billion company is also showcasing the two prototypes of IJT, designed and developed for stage II training of military pilots, at the aero show for overseas delegations to position itself as the only manufacturer of such trainer aircraft in the world.

The sub-sonic IJT is a by-product of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and has been developed in association with other defence organisations such as the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

Many US and European companies are partnering the HAL to supply sub-systems and critical components for the IJT project.