FIRST SQUADRON OF ALH DHRUV ( INAS 322 ) |
ALH DHRUV |
"It is a proud moment for
us that Dhruv has proved its mettle over the years. India is the sixth nation
in the world to have the capability to develop helicopters of this class. Dhruv
has been exported to Ecuador, Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives," said HAL
Chairman R K Tyagi."One lakh hours flown by the machine is an awesome feat
to achieve. It is a dream machine for any pilot", said Lt Col Kapil Agarwal
who completed the landmark flying hours. ALH is being operated by Indian Air
Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and state governments since
2002, said an HAL statement.Currently, more than 132 Dhruv helicopters are
serving the Indian Defence Forces. HAL has also built 12 civil variant Dhruv
helicopters and they are being used by its customers. The Ecuador Air Force
operates six Dhruv helicopters with their President choosing to fly in them.According
to Bangalore-headquartered HAL, Dhruv is extremely useful to the Indian defence
forces in meeting the arduous tasks in difficult terrains of Himalayas like
Siachen Glacier and Kashmir.It played a key role in rescue operations during
tsunami (2004), flash floods at Leh (2010), earth quake at Sikkim (2011) and
the biggest ever helicopter based rescue operation undertaken by Indian defence
forces in flood and rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand recently, the defence PSU
said.
ALH Dhruv is an all weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at heights of 10,000 feet. It is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class and meets Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) specifications, the company said.HAL said Dhruv has demonstrated its capability in long distance flights, vertical climb and in manoeuvring.The advanced technology features incorporated in the design of Dhruv include hinge-less main rotor and bearing-less tail rotor, integrated dynamic system encompassing main gear box and upper controls in a single housing, higher powered Shakti engines, integrated architecture display system (glass cockpit), duplex automatic flight control system and redundancy with twin-engine, dual hydraulics and controls.It also has advanced avionics (communication, navigation & surveillance) and mission systems.
Indian Navy today commissioned
the first ALH Dhruv Helicopter Squadron at Southern Command, Kochi. The
squadron is named Indian Naval Air Squadron INAS 322 Guardians. Intensive
Flying and Trials Unit for Advanced Light Helicopters, IFTU (ALH), had been set
up at INS Garuda, Kochi on 20 Feb 03 with the first landing of Advanced Light
Helicopter. The unit’s task was to ensure smooth induction of the new aircraft
and lay down guidelines for training and operational exploitation of the ALH.
On completion of IFTU, two ALH Flights were formed which were later merged to
form a single Flight.Addressing the
commissioning ceremony parade, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Flag Officer
Commanding in Chief Western Naval Command. said that in the Navy, Dhruv
helicopters has transformed into an advanced search and rescue (SAR) helicopter
also used for missions like heliborne operations, and armed patrol with night
vision devices. “Such machines in the inventory have become imperative for the
Navy given the scenario of low intensity maritime operations (LIMO) and coastal
security construct,” said the Admiral.
Smt Mona Sinha named the
squadron as INAS 322 and unveiled the commissioning plaque. Commander Ravi
Sivasankar, the first Commanding Officer of the Squadron recited the invocation
and read out the commissioning warrant. The squadron credo is “Search
Fearlessly, Rescue Valiantly” signifying their primary role of SAR.Vice Admiral
Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command under
whose administrative control INAS 322 would function, in his address said that,
the versatile aircraft would soon be cleared for night SAR role, one of the few
helicopters in the world to have that capability over sea. He also expressed
satisfaction that the ALH would beef up the coast security architecture.
COCKPIT :-
The aircraft is equipped with a
SFIM INC. four-axis automatic flight control system. The cockpit section of the fuselage is of Kevlar and
carbon-fibre construction and is fitted with crashworthy seats. The navigation
suite includes a global positioning system, a Doppler navigation system,
distance measuring equipment, a true air speed indicator, automatic direction
finder, a heading reference system, radio altimeter, VHF omnidirectional ranger
and instrument landing system (VOR/ILS) and marker beacons.The communications
suite includes HF, UHF, and VHF radio communications.
TWIN ENGINES :-
The helicopter has a
twin-engine configuration allowing continued flight virtually throughout the
flight envelope. The prototype helicopter is fitted with two Turbomeca TM
333-2C or 2B2 engines rated at 740kW take-off power. A more powerful engine for
the Dhruv, the Shakti (which carries the French name Ardiden 1H) rated at 900kW
was developed under a cooperative agreement between HAL and Turbomeca and will
be manufactured at Bangalore. Avio was selected to supply integrated dynamic
systems (IDS) for the Shakti engine.
LANDING GEAR :-
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