ALH-Dhruv, Tejas will not feature in R-Day flypast
The entire fleet of the military choppers has been grounded following a crash of one of them this month
New Delhi: The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast as the entire fleet of the military choppers has been grounded following a crash of one of them this month. The Army, the Indian Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard are operating around 330 ALHs.
A Coast Guard ALH crashed at Gujarat’s Porbandar on January 5 following which the armed forces grounded the entire fleet of the twin-engine choppers.
The ALH Dhruv will not be part of the Republic Day flypast over Kartavya Path on January 26, an IAF official told reporters. The choppers are likely to remain grounded till a high-level probe panel finds the root cause of the crash that killed two Coast Guard pilots and an aircrew diver. The helicopters have been part of the Republic Day flypasts for nearly one-and-half decades.
The ALH-Dhruv, produced by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 ton weight class.
The official cited above also said that locally developed single engine Light Combat Aircraft Tejas will also not feature at the Republic Day flypast.
The IAF has stopped flying single engine aircraft at the R-Day parade.