First Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard Dhruv Mk.III to be delivered soon

The first Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv Mk.III version for the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard is to be delivered soon. The first two Dhruv Mk.IIIs are expected to be handed over to the customer by the end of November 2020.

Dating back to March 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the purchase of 32 Dhruv Mk.III Advanced Light Helicopters to boost the maritime capabilities of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. Both armed forces will receive sixteen helicopters each.

So far, both forces had just a small number of Dhruv Mk.I helicopters in their inventory, with the navy operating eight Dhruvs and the coast guard four Dhruvs of which one was donated to the Maldives. The Mk.I variant has a conventional cockpit and Turbomeca (now Safran Helicopter Engines) TM333-2B2 turboshaft engines (750 hp each).

The customized Mk.III version features a full glass cockpit with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Integrated Architecture Display System (IADS), more powerful "Shakti" (Safran Ardiden 1H1) engines (1,400–2,000 hp each), and a host of new systems integrated by HAL’s Rotary Wing Research and Design Centre (RWRDC).

While the first deliveries were already expected earlier this year, COVID-19 lockdowns interrupted the field trials. In June 2018, two "green" helicopters were handed over to RWRDC by HAL’s Helicopter Division for system integration. After the lockdown restrictions were gradually lifted by the Indian government in May 2020, sensor integration and sea trials resumed at Kochi, Chennai and Goa on the first of ICG and IN airframes.

Photo: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd