India is Looking for Replacement for 350 Outdated Cheetah and Chetak Helicopters

The Indian Ministry of Defense has issued a request for information from suppliers to purchase 200 helicopters for the Army and Air Force as part of the Cheetah and Chetak fleet replacement program.

This was reported by the Times of India.

Under this program, India seeks to obtain multifunctional helicopters, of which 120 are intended for the army aviation and 80 for the Air Force.

The helicopters are expected to perform reconnaissance and monitoring missions during the day and night, transport small groups of troops for special operations, carry internal and external cargo to support ground operations, and perform reconnaissance missions in cooperation with combat helicopters.

According to the plan, the new helicopters should start entering the Indian Armed Forces by 2027, and the full replacement of old helicopters will be completed over the next decade.

Currently, the main contender for the supply of helicopters is Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with its LUH model.

This helicopter was developed domestically, and its production and procurement do not depend on third-party decisions.

It is worth noting that India is currently actively cooperating with French defense companies, such as Safran, which is a manufacturer of gas turbine engines for helicopters. Expanding this cooperation will have a positive impact on domestic helicopter production.

In July 2023, the French company Safran and the Indian company HAL agreed to establish a joint venture for the production of helicopter engines.

The new company will be located in the Indian city of Bangalore. It will specialize in the development and licensed production of helicopter engines for Asian customers of Airbus helicopters.

In addition, the new venture should help HAL obtain indigenous engines for the new IMRH medium helicopter.

It should be noted that back in 2015, India planned to replace its outdated helicopters with the Russian Ka-226T helicopter, which was to be purchased under the Made in India Programme.

However, due to the extremely high price of $2 billion and other political and economic factors, this idea was abandoned.