Light Combat Helicopter “Prachand” added to Indian Air Force - Get complete details here

Light Combat Helicopter “Prachand” added to Indian Air Force: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, 3rd October 2022 inducted four light combat helicopters into the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Jodhpur air base.

The event was attended by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and other senior military officials.

The light combat helicopter is named “ Prachand” which means fierce.

Light Combat Helicopter is capable of dodging the enemy, carrying a variety of ammunition & delivering it to the site quickly
LCH perfectly meets the needs of our armed forces in various terrains & it is an ideal platform for both our Army & Airforce

Raksha Mantri @rajnathsingh pic.twitter.com/hxFvsCkPXH

— PIB India (@PIB_India) October 3, 2022

Prachand Light Combat Helicopter - Features

• The light combat helicopter is capable of destroying enemy air defence.
• It is also capable of carrying insurgency strikes.
• This is the only helicopter in the world that has the capacity to land and take of from an altitude of 5000 meters with weapons and fuel.
• It is a twin-engine dedicated combat helicopter with a weight of 5.8 tonnes which makes it light.
• It features a narrow fuselage and one tandem.
• This is a twin-seater helicopter with pilot and co-pilot options. The co-pilot is also the Weapons operator.
• The helicopter was designed to be used in all battle conditions, high altitude, desert etc.
• It has a speed of 268 kilometres per hour and a range of 550 km.
• It is similar to Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv.
• It has night attack capability, and armour protection systems.
• It has the capability to perform combat search and rescue operations, counter-insurgency operations, and destruction of enemy air defence.
• The light combat helicopter is equipped with a 20 mm turret, air-to-air missiles, and 70 mm rockets for air-to-surface capability.
• This helicopter can be used to destroy drones and slow-moving enemy aircraft.
• In addition to that, it can be used for destroying high-altitude bunkers and also perform capably in jungles. 
• The air force will be getting 65 such helicopters while the Indian Army will get 95 helicopters.