Home-grown ‘Prachanda’ light combat helicopter joins Indian Air Force fleet

Marking a major stepping stone to increasing the military’s combat power, especially on the high-altitude Himalayan battlefield, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally inducted a new, powerfully armed, high-altitude-capable helicopter into Indian Air Force (IAF) service on Monday.

Designed and developed ground-up by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the defence minister gave the new chopper — so far eponymously referred to as the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) — the name of Prachanda.

Inducted into the IAF’s newly raised 143 Helicopter Unit, a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) called it a “testimony to India’s growing prowess in indigenous design, development and manufacturing and a significant milestone towards ‘atmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in defence.”