New Delhi: A high level team from Argentina is arriving in India soon to visit state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to look at the helicopters which are being manufactured in Bengaluru. The team will be looking at Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Prachand and the HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).
This was confirmed by diplomatic sources who said that the South American nation had expressed interest in the helicopters and so was sending a “ big delegation which could be here later next week. They have expressed their interests in helicopters which have been indigenously designed and developed and manufactured by HAL.” and that “the team that is coming will also have test pilots.”
Argentine air power has been insufficient relative to its requirements. It has only 30 helicopters for various roles. The light utility role had the Aerospatiale SA 315B Lama. In 2022, reports showed that the American Bell 407 helicopter had been selected as its successor. India flies around 160 Lamas and will serve as a spare supplier until the transition is completed. However, the Bell 407 is a medium utility helicopter.
The Argentina Air Force would require at least another six units – ideally twelve – to replace its ageing Bell 212s, whose proper life cycle is nearing its end. If it had a dozen Bell 412EPs, the FAA could deploy at least one in each Air Brigade and maintain the one already in the Military Aviation School for Search and Rescue tasks for the crews of the Air Group School (GAE), which depends on the Military Aviation School (EAM).
After decades of disinvestment due to the lack of strategic vision of the Argentine political leadership, which led to a severe loss of operational capabilities due to the impossibility of renewing and modernising its means, fewer annual flight hours due to scarce operating resources (fuel, rotatable, etc.) and maintenance (engine and airframe overhaul, etc.), in recent years the Argentine Air Force has managed to begin to reverse this negative trend.
Compared to the Argentine light utility helicopter, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems MD 500 Defender, Dhruv has almost five times the service ceiling at 6,100 m. In all aspects, Dhruv outperforms the ageing light utility helicopter in Argentina’s employ.
The latest LCH Prachand is a mountain-focused attack helicopter and is designed to be operational at heights that Apache or Mi 24 cannot reach. By sacrificing armour and weapon load, this helicopter is ideal for the highest mountains in the world. The vast Andes of Argentina are the natural playing field for the HAL Prachand. The multi-role attack helicopter can perform air defence against manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and participate in counter-insurgency and counter-surface force operations.
The Indian leap in indigenous defence aviation can be instrumental for Argentina in reclaiming its aerial might. HAL’s strength has been its robust product line-up, compared to the Argentine defence industry which has been volatile; however, it might change hereinafter.
