HAL pushing for LUH first flight in December
India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) plans to conduct the maiden test flight of its under-development Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in December.
HAL officials told IHS Jane's that the proposed flight of the 3.1 tonne single-engine LUH prototype followed successful ground tests in December 2014 and would coincide with the 75th anniversary of HAL's founding.
Under development since 2008-9, the LUH is being developed to replace the obsolete Cheetah (Aerospatiale SA-315B) and Chetak (Aerospatiale Alouette III) helicopters, which have been operated by the Army Aviation Corps (AAC) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) since the 1960s.
By mid-2017 HAL aims to have built four LUH prototypes and to have obtained initial operational (IOC) before series production starts in 2018 at a special helicopter facility it plans to build at Tumkur, 74 km north of Bangalore.
HAL officials told IHS Jane's that the proposed flight of the 3.1 tonne single-engine LUH prototype followed successful ground tests in December 2014 and would coincide with the 75th anniversary of HAL's founding.
Under development since 2008-9, the LUH is being developed to replace the obsolete Cheetah (Aerospatiale SA-315B) and Chetak (Aerospatiale Alouette III) helicopters, which have been operated by the Army Aviation Corps (AAC) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) since the 1960s.
By mid-2017 HAL aims to have built four LUH prototypes and to have obtained initial operational (IOC) before series production starts in 2018 at a special helicopter facility it plans to build at Tumkur, 74 km north of Bangalore.
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