ALH fleet back in sky: Army and IAF helicopters cleared for operations

After nearly four months of grounding, the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) fleet used by the Army and Indian Air Force has been cleared for flying amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan. These helicopters are utilised for logistics, transport, search and rescue, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. A combat version of the copter is also armed for ground troop support.

The decision to allow the Army and IAF fleets to fly means that a majority of the 330-strong ALH fleet will resume operations. The Army operates around 200 of these copters, while the IAF has 75. However, the ALH versions used by the Navy and Coast Guard have not yet been cleared for flying.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturer, issued a statement saying that the ALH Dhruv versions for the Army and Air Force are cleared for operations based on the Defect Investigation Committee’s recommendations. A time-bound plan for resuming operations has been worked out with the users, HAL added.

The fleet was grounded following a Coast Guard copter crash on January 5 that killed three personnel. The investigation revealed a fracture in the ‘swash plate’ as the probable cause. Over the past 25 years, there have been 28 ALH crashes, with 13 attributed to technical reasons and 13 to human error.

An ALH is considered a major success in indigenous military equipment manufacturing. It has four variants—ALH Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3, and ALH-WSI (Weapons Systems Integrated)—all twin-engine machines. Due to the grounding, ALH did not participate in the Republic Day flypast or Aero India in February.