HAL Light Utility Helicopter

During the 1990s and the 2000s, the procurement of a modern successor to the aging HAL Cheetah and HAL Chetak helicopters of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force had been recognised as an impending need.[6] Multiple attempts at establishing a competitive tendering programme; one such effort specified a total of 197 utility helicopters for the Indian Army, 60 of which were to be directly purchased and the remaining 137 to be produced under licence by Indian aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).[6] However, this tender, in which the Eurocopter Fennec appeared to be the frontrunner against the rival Bell 407, eventually ended up being cancelled in response to allegations of irregularities in the selection process; Eurocopter was subsequently investigated and exonerated of any wrongdoing.[7][8] Consequently, new safeguards were implemented to ensure impartiality and the replacement effort was subsequently restarted.[6]

During July 2008, the Government of India circulated a request for proposals (RFP) to various helicopter companies, including AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter, Kamov and Sikorsky, for a fleet of 197 light utility helicopters to be purchased in a fly-away condition directly from the manufacturer in order to speed up their delivery.[6] Intended for military purposes, the potential contract was valued as a maximum of $750 million, of which 30 per cent was required to be invested within India under the government's policy of industrial offsets; HAL was also specified as to provide domestic maintenance activities for the fleet, who were reportedly also keen to manufacture further examples locally and further develop the selected type.[6] It had been initially hoped that trials would begin in 2009 and that helicopter deliveries could commence as early as 2010.[6][7]

By late 2008, Bell had announced its decision not to participate despite earlier considerations on offering a variant of their Bell 407 helicopter; according to Bell, the high offset requirements had made any bid less feasible and thus the company chose to withdraw from the Indian military market.[7] Rival firm Russian Helicopters, submitting its Kamov Ka-226T, was another major competitor for the competition.[9] Shortly after the selection of the Ka-226T to meet the requirement, during December 2015, an agreement was signed for the creation of a joint venture between Rostec, Russian Helicopters and HAL to manufacture the Ka-226T at a new factory to be built at Tumakuru, India.[10] Meanwhile, HAL, which had long held ambitions to design and produce such an aircraft, sought to establish a partnership with a Western manufacturer with considerable technical knowhow in the field; reportedly, Eurocopter were viewed as being the favourite, having already worked with HAL for decades on previous ventures, such as the Chetak and Cheetal that were being replaced.[11]

HAL reveals Light Utility Helicopter mock-up at Aero India 2011

During February 2009, India's defence ministry approved HAL's proposal to enter the design phase on an indigenous design that could potentially meet the requirements of the competition, as well to explore partnership arrangements.[12] HAL promptly performed preliminary design studies on a prospective 3-tonne light helicopter, powered by a single HAL/Turbomeca Shakti turboshaft engine and possessing a range of up to 500 km (270 nm) and a payload capacity of up to 500 kg (1,100 lb). In March 2010, HAL announced that it had decided to proceed on the LUH project alone, without any international partner participating in its development.[13]

In February 2011, HAL unveiled a full-sized mockup of its LUH design.[14] At this point, the design of the LUH was officially frozen, but some elements, such as the powerplant, were yet to be selected for the type; additionally, the first prototype was anticipated to be constructed by the end of 2012 and the first flight was scheduled to occur during 2013.[14] By early November 2012, the bottom structure assembly of the LUH ground test vehicle had been completed. According to HAL, the manufacturing jigs, which are of a modular and gaugeless design, consisting of five assembly jigs and a coupling jig, had been developed and validated using Computer Aided Measurement System (CAMS) to establish high accuracy and stability, which produces smooth and flawless 'First off' structure build.[15]

In March 2014, HAL promoted its LUH's capabilities as a civilian multirole helicopter, noting its ability to carry up to six passengers in an appropriate configuration.[16] While limited series production shall be performed at Bengaluru, HAL intends to perform mass production of the LUH at its new helicopter manufacturing complex at Tumakuru unit; in September 2016, production was reportedly intended to commence around 2018–2019. The Tumakuru assembly line is to complete around 30 LUHs per year by 2019–2020; upon enacting Phase II, which will take another three-four years, production would be ramped up to 60 helicopters per year from 2023.[17]

Following repeated delays to the type's first flight, on 6 September 2016, the first prototype LUH PT-1 (ZG4620) conduct its maiden flight outside HAL's manufacturing facility at Bangalore.[1][17] The maiden flight, which was reportedly flown without any issues, marked the commencement of the flight test phase of development.[18] On 14 February 2017, the first prototype performed an aerobatic display in front of members of the general public in Aero India 2017.[19] Based on the feedback from the first prototype, a more refined second prototype performed its first flight on 22 May 2017.[20][21] The LUH flew at 6 km altitude Envelope Expansion Test at Bengaluru, a critical certification requirement, in December 2018.[22] Subsequently, on 14 December 2018, the third prototype PT-3 had its maiden flight.[23]

HAL LUH during hot and high altitude trials in Leh

In 2018, the LUH finished hot weather trials at Nagpur. Testing at sea-level altitudes was completed at Chennai in 2018 and at Puducherry in 2019.[24] In January 2019, the LUH successfully completed cold weather trials.[25] The LUH undertook successful high altitude hot weather trials between 24 August and 2 September 2019.[24] By 7 February 2020, three prototypes had cumulatively performed over 550 flights.[26] On 7 February 2020, the LUH received its Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) from the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) department of Defence Research and Development.[2][27] The Indian Army has requested a final demonstration trial prior to the LUH goes into mass production. HAL announced the completion of the final demonstration trial on 9 September 2020, which involved envelope expansion, performance, flying qualities, payload and landing capabilities at the highest altitudes of Siachen Glacier.[28] The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) is planned for 2021, following tests focused on its automatic flight control system (AFCS).[29]