HAL LUH / RSH Helicopter: News and Discussions
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New design altogether developed indigenously
The reasons are as depressingly familiar as they are opaque. Differences between HAL, certification authorities like CEMILAC and RCMA, and the Army itself have reportedly produced a deadlock over testing standards, certification observations, operational expectations and compliance parameters. In any mature aviation ecosystem, disagreements during development are normal. In India, however, such disagreements have a unique ability to metastasise into paralysis. The LUH is the latest victim of this.
www.livefistdefence.com
Lot of chatter about why LUH remains in limbo. Found this article by Livefist. No clear RC presented. There are multiple parties that are holding up the process.
3 Months 0 Flights, HAL's LUH Descends To Limbo - Livefist
The photograph went viral internationally. A grim looking Indian Army officer, Major General Sachin Mehta, seated amid the wreckage of a crashed Cheetah helicopter near Leh on May 20, taking a selfie with crew members moments after what could easily have been a fatal accident. Social media...
www.livefistdefence.com
Lot of chatter about why LUH remains in limbo. Found this article by Livefist. No clear RC presented. There are multiple parties that are holding up the process.
This CAD rendering is of the Rudra, not any study being done for the LUH.
It would be difficult to have overhanging weight of this much on LUH.
Exactly what I was thinking, that's nearly 250 kg on each side, complete insanity for a LUH sized platforms.
At best we would get 1 Weapons station on each side with 2 x Nag Mk 2 on each of them and even that is quite a big leap of faith
LUH could concievably carry Helina in a 2×2 config though. It weighs about the same as Hellfire (~45kg). It is after all in the same class as the Fennec which does have an armed config.
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Develop it as an counter drone platform equipped with guided rockets acting as AAMs or equip them with micro AAMs for counter drone capabilities. Turkey has already developed such anti drone AAMs & European countries are working on multiple such programs individually.
Already in the works.
India’s Helicopter-led Counter-UAS Strategy
Exercise Rotor Clap III showcases India’s helicopter-based anti-UAS strategy, advancing drone detection, interception, electronic warfare,
capssindia.org
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Vibration issue resolved? Next when do we get LSP deliveries?
That's just an exercise to determine the shape of requirements which'd go into the ASQR as & when they come out.Already in the works.
India’s Helicopter-led Counter-UAS Strategy
Exercise Rotor Clap III showcases India’s helicopter-based anti-UAS strategy, advancing drone detection, interception, electronic warfare,
Welcome move though we're doing it in Indian Standard Time ( IST ) as usual whereas the aforementioned countries in my previous post have already progressed well in their program to develop the said micro AAMs .
I believe Turkey has already fielded such a missile last year if I'm not mistaken or in 2024.
We need to identify a platform pronto dedicated for just such a task . We already have fleets of attack hptrs with the LCH joining their ranks in full strength in some time.
That's where a derivative of LUH comes in for a dedicated anti UAV role especially to cater to LMs , micro / mini / small UAV / UAS especially swarm drones .
Equip the LUH with twin gun systems with near unlimited ammo besides a bevy of micro AAMs .
Also equip our existing fleet of attack hptrs including the upcoming LUH with a pod or 2 containing such micro AAMs for emergency use just so they don't end up firing Mistral AAMs at a target costing a couple of thousand dollars but which has the potential to wreck equipment costing a few hundred million dollars.
70mm rockets like APKWS/FZ275 are already being adapted for A2A CUAS (on fast jets, no less) so it won't be too long, imo. Heck ULPGM v3 could fit the bill perfectly. It weighs much less than a standard 70mm round.
Before equipping LUH with any offensive weapons you will need to add a self protection suite. MAWS+RWR coupled with a CMDS. Same goes for the dreams of converting HTT40 to armed version and Hjt36 armed CAS version.
And in case of LUH, after equipping it with SPS, one will need a EO pod too. Add the weight and power requirements of these and its effect on the performance before you add any weapons.
probably can try to implement like an air launched bhargavastra munitions that solar industries are developing maybe if it fit the dimensions. would already have a base design that is created for anti drone operations to work on and iterate the air launched version.
If the users have specified an HMDS for LUH as is being reported, it's only a matter of time before it gets an EO/IR pod and eventually a weapons fit. A RSH w/o weapons capability just
doesn't make sense, imo.
For starters, HAL might port over the Compass sight and SAAB IDAS EW kit from Rudra over to LUH to reduce dev risk. The SWAP margins would be all too well known.
Although, pvt cos like Tonbo should also get a chance, imo. They offer some interesting lightweight EO/IR payloads with latest gen optics.
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