NEW DELHI \u2014 India will conduct weapons tests\u00a0of its domestic-made Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) in July and\u00a0August, the defense minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“LCH certification firing trials with integration of mission sensors such as the electro-optical system, helmet pointing system and weapon systems \u2014\u00a0air-to-air missiles, turret gun and rockets \u2014\u00a0are planned during July and\u00a0August 2016,”\u00a0Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar told parliament Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Built\u00a0by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the LCH is a two-engine, 5.5-ton helicopter capable of\u00a0carrying air-to-air missiles,\u00a020mm guns, unguided rockets,\u00a0cluster bombs, grenade launchers and anti-radiation missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HAL successfully tested the LCH’s\u00a070mm rocket in March,\u00a0checking for\u00a0system integration, structural integrity, noise and vibration, system functionality and the safe separation of rockets, Parrikar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is buying 65 LCH at a cost of $1.4 billion, one HAL source said.\u00a0The three defense forces have requested a total of 180.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four technology demonstrators are undergoing flight testing, said\u00a0Gopal Sutar, a HAL spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed for anti-tank and anti-infantry roles with a maximum speed of\u00a0275\u00a0kilometers per hour, the LCH is also capable of high-altitude warfare since its operational ceiling will be 16,000 to 18,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is equipped with missile warning systems, anti-missile countermeasures\u00a0and cockpit displays that are capable of night attacks. It\u00a0carries a domestically developed\u00a0gyro-stabilized sighting system comprising a high-performance thermal imager and laser rangefinder, which can detect a tank target up to 4 kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LCH is also capable of destroying unmanned aerial vehicles, slow-moving aircraft, tanks and armored and infantry combat vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India’s domestically made Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) underwent trials of its 70mm rocket firing capabilities in March, the defense minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3390],"class_list":["post-30656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"247BZWSJBBA6DHQLLSTDHRIXBQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2016\/05\/10\/india-to-conduct-lch-weapons-trials\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n