The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast.
ALH-Dhruv, Tejas Will Not Feature in Republic Day
The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast as the entire fleet of the military choppers has been grounded following a crash of one of them this month. The Army, the Indian Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard are operating around 330 ALHs.
A Coast Guard ALH crashed at Gujarat’s Porbandar on January 5 following which the armed forces grounded the entire fleet of the twin-engine choppers.
The ALH Dhruv will not be part of the Republic Day flypast over Kartavya Path on January 26, an IAF official told. The official cited above also said that locally developed single engine LCA Tejas will also not feature at the Republic Day flypast.
The IAF has stopped flying single engine aircraft at the R-Day parade. Republic Day flypast would feature 40 aircraft including 22 fighter jets, 11 transport planes and seven helicopters. A Rafale fighter jet will carry out the grand finale – a manouevre named Vertical Charlie in which the aircraft first flies low and then goes up while carrying out rolls.
Just as the armed forces grapple with the fourth major accident of the relatively new indigenous ‘Dhruv’ advanced light helicopters (ALH) in six months, yet another MiG-21 fighter crashed on Monday, reinforcing the disturbingly high crash rate in military aviation in the country.
Around 55 military personnel have lost their lives in over 50 aircraft and helicopter accidents in just over five years. The old MiG-21 jets as well as the Cheetah/Chetak helicopters have recorded an alarming crash record over the years.
“Both MiG-21s and Cheetah/Chetak helicopters, which are single-engine machines of the design vintage of the 1960s, have long outlived their operational utility. But what can the armed forces do in the absence of new inductions?” a senior officer.
The force is down to just 31 fighter squadrons (each squadron has 16-18 jets) when its “authorised strength” is 42.5 squadrons to deal with China and Pakistan. The existing three MiG-21 squadrons currently based Uttarlai, Suratgarh and Nal in Rajasthan are slated to be phased out by 2025.
