Tender for 76 Naval Utility Helicopters for Indian Navy & Coast Guard

[Aniruddha]

Defence Matrix said that it has already flown

He was very active during Wings India last month

That's even better news!!

 

[Ashwin]

UHM is quite a bit heavier than the std Dhruv with all the extra mods like folding tail boom, segmented rotor blades + MR mission suite. ~5.8t AUW, iirc.

HAL had better hurry if they want to win.

They already won. Their order is assured. They will not be part of this tender.

 

[Speedster1]

Neither H160M nor AW169M have a folding tail boom, so I wonder how exactly are they planning to overcome that requirement.

We should see the first flight of UH-M this FY

Though HAL has demo'ed folding tail boom, I suspect the RfP requires ac that can fit into ship hangars with just their rotors folded. UHM reportedly can do so now with the new segmented rotor blades.

After all, folding booms would just not be practical for ac like Panther with their Fenestron shrouded tail rotors.

 

[_Anonymous_]

H-160 is Airbus' newest and most advanced product (super cool aesthetics too) Just entering service with the French armed forces, replacing the Panther (which I thought Airbus might pitch for NUH)

It is in the same class as Dhruv at around 5.5t. Airbus trying to undercut an established HAL product?

Ah yes ! I didn't parse thru what was written there & was under the impression it's the same old H-125 being offered.

In this case given the hptr is practically brand new , the costs will be prohibitive.

The Russians themselves use only a handful of Ka-226. Why buy a brochure (naval version) and make it a working product on our dime?

In case you bothered to parse thru what I've written you'd notice it was a rhetorical question.

 

[Speedster1]

Just couldn't picture IN crews swapping out different mission modules on the Ka-226 airframe within the narrow confines of a warship's helo hangar.

 

[Aniruddha]

They already won. Their order is assured. They will not be part of this tender.

But wouldn't that create more problems than it will solve.
Having two different platforms to fulfil a 111 Naval Utility Helicopter requirement would be hell from a logistical and maintenance perspective, not to mention neither the AW169M nor the H160M have been optimized for Deck based operations while UH-M is tailor made for the job.