Indian Coast Guard received the last of 16 Advanced Light Helicopters Mk-III on Tuesday from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
HAL design, develops, and manufactures ALH Mk-III in-house. In addition to surveillance radar, electro-optic pods, intensive care units, infrared suppressors, heavy machine guns, and glass cockpits, it is equipped with high-intensity searchlights.
More than 3.74 lakh flying hours have been logged by the company’s ALH helicopters, which have been produced in excess of 330 so far.
It was signed in March 2017 that the Indian Coast Guard would receive 16 ALH Mk-III from HAL. The Coast Guard has inducted 15 choppers so far.
Nine more ALH Mk-III choppers were ordered by the Coast Guard on Tuesday.
A Letter of Intent (LoI) for nine more helicopters has been issued by HAL, and we are proud to be associated with it. In spite of Covid-19, HAL delivered all helicopters in the shortest period of time and with seamless production activities, which strengthened Indian maritime security,” DG Pathania said.
Among the unique features of the contract is HAL’s performance-based logistics, a one-stop solution for maintenance of these helicopters.
He said that “this will serve as a benchmark for all our future contracts and strengthen ‘Make in India’ activities in the defence ecosystem as we work with private partners to speed up the work.”