India’s HAL Prepares For Future Orders With ‘Asia’s Largest Helicopter Factory’
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the nation’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility in Tumakuru on February 6. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Helicopter Factory is a dedicated greenfield facility spread across 615 acres of land in the southern state of Karnataka.
A press release by the Prime Minister’s Office stated that it will be Asia’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility and will initially produce Light Utility Helicopters (LUH). With the establishment of facilities like Heli-Runway, Flight Hangar, Final Assembly Hangar, Structure Assembly Hangar, Air Traffic Control and various supporting service facilities, the factory is fully operational. Initially, the factory will produce around 30 helicopters per year and can be enhanced to 60 and then 90 per year in a phased manner.
The factory will be expanded to manufacture other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Indian Multirole Helicopter (IMRH) as well as for repair and overhaul of LCH, LUH, civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and IMRH in the future. The factory also has the potential for exporting the civil LUHs in future. This facility will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters indigenously enabling self-reliance in helicopter design, development and manufacture.
HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonnes, with a total business of over ₹ 4,000 billion ($50 billion) over a period of 20 years. The proximity of the factory with the existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru, will boost the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in the region.
LUH is an indigenously designed and developed 3-ton class, single-engine multi-role utility helicopter with the ability to operate at high altitudes. Currently, 12 of these helicopters have been ordered, six each by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Army. Once these Limited Serial Production (LSP) models are inducted and user feedback is obtained, orders are expected to be placed for at least 180 more LUHs.
The Helicopter Factory began construction in 2016. HAL intended to manufacture Kamov Ka-226T coaxial helicopters planned to be purchased from Russia. However, even as price and transfer of technology bogged down negotiations, HAL’s own LUH made rapid progress and obtained initial orders. The armed forces have a total requirement for about 400 light utility helicopters, originally intended to be split between LUH and the Kamov. With the impending induction of LUH and with the Ka-226T virtually stalled, the LUH could be chosen to meet this entire requirement.