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Copter hunt gets hotter

Chinook will be preferred by the Navy if they Choose to operate heavy lift helicopters which they will sooner or later once they have a few LHDs to complement our Aircraft Carriers...

...again on terms of increasing fleet commonality as the navy already operates a lot of Kamov helis...

...And y the hell r we not giving a contract to the South-Africans to upgrade our entire existing Hind fleet to Super Hinds.
I'm sure they'll agree to let HAL upgrade all of them indeginously.

The Mi 26 can't be operated from LPDs, or LHDs, it's simply too heavy / big and the rotors can't be folded as well.

The Fennec is well proven as an air force and navy helicopter and offers the best avionics, not to forget the experience and ease in licence production we will have with Eurocopter and that it and the HAL LUH might end up with a lot of commonality.

They were upgraded to Mi 35 level, but they reached the end of their life and IAF is going for a ready and proven replacement, till the LCH will arrive.


Chinook is better for troop transport and operations against guerrillas and the like. And since India already operates Mi-26s, the Chinook is a more viable option. It's a practical helicopter.

Also, the Apache is far more proven than the Mi-28 - looks aside.

The heavy lift helicopter competition is meant for replacing older Mi 26 and especially for these specific roles the Mi 17 fleet can't do. Normal troop transport, or lifting howitzers is not a problem for them, so that is not a point to buy the Chinook. The Mi 26 instead lifts APCs, trucks, busses...and nearly twice the number of troops the Chinook could (nearly 3 times of a Mi 17), so as offers a totally different level of lift capacity to IAF. This coupled with the experience with it and the most likely lower unit costs will be the biggest advantages, while the maintenace costs and reliable after sale support are the problems. If we can get a deal where we can build critical parts in India, it is definitely the best choice.
 
Some cool pics of Mi-28 from MAKS 2011....

Note the downwards engine nozzles
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Any idea when they'll choose? This better not take as long as the MMRCA deal.

Hopefully till the end of this year, next to the LUH and HLH competitions. The combat helicopter deal is not that important as the MMRCA, because it's not that huge and has no strategic meaning. It's just a replacement of older IAF helicopters in low numbers, while LCH is developing in a good pace as well. So be it Apache, or the Mi 28, they will be a good addition, but not the most important procurement, same for Mi 26/Chinook.
 
Mi 26 is much better than any heavy lift copter in this world, Its best suited for our kind of conditions and we have experience in operating these kind of aircraft.
 

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