Philippines could be the first Export Customer of the Prachand Combat Helicopter - HAL Director

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There are some recent reports from the Indian Press that said that the Philippines could be the first Export Customer of India's Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), the "Prachand". The Source is reportedly no less than the Chief Managing Director (CMD) of the Indian Aircraft Manufacturer "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)", C.B. Ananthakrishnan. 

Ananthakrishnan said that Philippine Officials have already conducted a Test Flight on the said Helicopter and he expressed optimism that a sale could be made soon. No confirmation yet from the Philippine Side though. 

Makes me wonder why we are planning to get this since we already have the T129B ATAK Helicopter, but then again after all the Delays we encountered with their Delivery thanks to all the Drama surrounding its American-designed Engines, then I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up looking somewhere else for the next order. 

The Prachand uses French designed Engines that are license-built in India, so there may be less Problems there in Terms of Delivery, unlike with the T129B. The only main Issue I have with the Prachand right now though is that, like the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), it doesn't have a lot of Operational Record behind it yet as of now. 

Only around 15 Units have been delivered to the Indian Armed Forces, so it is fairly new. A quick scan of the Characteristics and Performance of the Prachand and the T129B seems to show that they are relatively close, most Attack Helicopters nowadays are sort of standardized or more or less the same already in my Opinion. 

In Terms of "Looks", both Aircraft are quite intimidating, but I still prefer the T129B as it looks sleeker. The Prachand looks like it has a bit of a Pot Belly on its underside, ha-ha. But of course that is not really that important, in the end both I feel will be able to serve their Attack Roles very well. 

Here is the Link to the Article at the Defence Guru Website containing the News Item: https://www.defenceguru.co.in/current-affairs/16th-april-2024-defence-current-affairs

SOURCE: Daily Defence Update - 16th April 2024 Defence Current Affairs {Archived Link}

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Philippines could be the first Export Customer of the Prachand Combat Helicopter - HAL Director