What will a huge IAF, with the responsibility of guarding extensive borders, and with providing support to the Army in the battlefield do with just 22 Apaches? Surely, the number appears to be too small. The question is a moot one, but serves to highlight the issue that the IAF would have more teeth in its helicopter fleet, if only indigenous development had given the government value for money.

In August, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found some technical flaws in the indigenous Dhruv helicopters and grounded them. It issued an airworthiness directive for civil variants of advanced light helicopter Dhruv and asked the manufacturer, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), to sort out the flaws. A similar directive was necessitated in 2011. This puts into perspective indigenous capability to manufacture helicopters despite heavy investment by the government into HAL. Besides belying the expectations of civil aviation, the HAL’s failure to produce a worthwhile machine despite decades of outlay has also meant that defence users of helicopters have been denied an inexpensive, indigenous, frontline fighting machine. The Indian Air Force (IAF), as the major helicopter user, has been complaining about this incessantly; its endeavours to lobby for an IAF man at the helm of affairs at HAL have met with no success. Meanwhile, its helicopter holdings are almost entirely of foreign origin—a matter of embarrassment that India has no choice but to accept.

The IAF started off with the US helicopters in the 1950s and expanded gradually to include French (including Indian, licence-built French designs) and Soviet helicopters. The Allouette II/III (Chetak and Cheetah) have been used in large numbers and for almost every conceivable rotary wing role: communications, air maintenance (carriage of food and supplies to inaccessible regions), forward air controlling (for close air support), recce, armed recce, anti-tank guided missiles carriage, casualty evacuation (up to two lying casualties at a time), liaison duties, security duties, bird recce (over fly past routes ahead of large formations), flower and leaflet dropping, ceremonial parades (decked up as an elephant, for example), and armed policing. Until 1986, the task of directing artillery fire was carried out by Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadrons. In 1986, the Government of India formally announced the formation of the Army Aviation Corps; as a result Chetaks and Cheetahs operating AOP Squadrons were transferred from the IAF to the Army while the other roles were retained by the IAF. Licence-built by HAL, these two types still continue to fly with the IAF.

Soviet design Mi-8s and MI-17s have been the vital backbone of the IAF fleet as far as logistical roles are concerned. Their variants have been used with modifications permitting carriage of guns, bombs, rockets and missiles. Helicopter crew have been undergoing training for armed roles and carrying out live firing in combat configurations and formations (with the unfortunate accident involving two Mi-17s at Sarmat airto-ground firing range serving to highlight the occupational risk attached to armed roles for helicopters). The latest flying creature of this family to join the IAF is the Russian Mi-17 V5, of which 80 are in the process of being supplied with 57 more on order from Russia. The Mi-17 V5 falls in armed helicopter category, with substantial and effective firepower. It has the latest and more powerful engines with enhanced payload carrying capability at higher altitudes. It is an upgrade of Mi-17 choppers in the medium-lift category and is equipped with state-of-theart avionics and an onboard navigation systems; it has onboard weather radar, a modern autopilot and is compatible with the latest generation night vision goggles.

In May 1984, the first Helicopter Unit was formed with the formidable Mi-25 gunship helicopter; it was used in Sri Lanka against the LTTE but there has been a hold back on use of gunships against militants on Indian soil. The upgraded Mi- 35 was inducted in April 1990, and future requirements for armed helicopters are planned to be met by the Dhruv. How far those expectations will be met is a moot point at the moment.

The IAF’s official site is not very lucid on the subject of its helicopter holding. It lists a total of 16 units (some of them of ‘flight’—or half a ‘unit’—size). Taking the ‘Unit’ strength as 12 and flight strength as six, the total would add up to 192.

Notwithstanding the above, the current helicopter fleet of the Indian Air Force is estimated to be nearly 300 aircraft; around half of that figure is made up of Mi-8/Mi-17 variants, a fourth consists of Chetaks and Cheetahs, and the remaining fourth part is comprised of Mi-25/35 attack helicopters and heavy lift Mi-26 helicopters which are used sparingly for special missions. The latest induction into the IAF is the Dhruv, about a dozen of which are in service currently. It is sobering to compare this total figure of less than 300 to the 400-plus helicopter holding of Air Methods, a US company providing medical evacuation services. It certainly is distressing to locate this figure in the context of “fourth largest Air Force in the world”. Although the IAF helicopter arm has discharged all responsibilities given to it with operational efficiency, professional respect for safety, and liberal display of valour in the face of enemy and otherwise; it remains a force woefully short in numbers in proportion to the nation’s vast territory and peacetime requirements of preventing war. In addition, there are the frequent calls for “aid to civil authorities” which keeps a constant pressure on the IAF for deployment against militants, for disaster management, and air maintenance of areas difficult to supply by road/rail. One shudders to think of how the IAF would meet the requirements arising from a “two-front war” as is often talked about now.

Media reports have sporadically iterated that Indian armed forces are looking to induct as many as 900 helicopters in the coming decade, including 384 lightutility and observation, 90 naval multi-role, 65 light combat, 22 heavy-duty attack, 139 medium-lift and 15 heavy-lift, among others. Currently, besides the 80 Mi-17 1Vs and Dhruvs mentioned above, the other helicopter acquisition plans for the IAF are 12 AgustaWestland crafts for Communication Squadron, 22 Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, and up to 15 heavy lift helicopters to replace the Russian Mi-26.

The CH-47 Chinook helicopter and the Russian Mi-26 T2 helicopters are the two contenders for the heavy-lift role; the idea is to enable the transportation of ultra-light howitzers to high-altitude posts. A heavy lift helicopter is also of strategic value as it can lift up to 70 armed troops or howitzers for deployment in mountainous areas bordering China and Pakistan. It could also be used for rapid deployment of missile launchers for Agni or Prithvi from one place to other. The currently held Mi-26, with 20-tonne capacity, is the biggest among operational helicopters, and can even lift Bofors guns to higher reaches, place bulldozers at a height of 16,500 feet, and land critical equipment for the IAF at places like Ladakh. The replacement will do all that and the larger numbers will empower the IAF substantially.

A modern attack helicopter to replace the Mi-25/35 variants or at least to augment their waning numbers (and technology) was a critical requirement. The Apache will be a big reassuring factor for the force. The $1.4 billion ( Rs. 7,700 crore) contract for the 22 Apaches is also expected to include the supply of 812 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles, 542 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire-II missiles, 245 Stinger Block I-92H missiles and 12 AN/APG-78 fire-control radars.