India's indigenouslydesigned and developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) hassuccessfully carried out air-to-air missile firing on a movingaerial target, state-run aerospace behemothHAL Thursday said.
Calling it a "unique milestone", the city-headquartered Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said thetests were conducted from integrated test range at Chandipur inOdisha recently.
LCH is designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWRDC) of HAL in response to the operational needs of Indian Armed Forces and its capabilities far exceed that of contemporary attack helicopters of its class.
HAL CMD R Madhavan said this was the first time in the country that a helicopter had carried out air to air missile engagement.
Wg Cdr Subash P John, VM (Retd), test pilot, Col Ranjit Chitale, (Retd), Flight Test Engineer from HAL and Gp Capt Rajeev Dubey, test pilot from IAF executed a flawless mission and achieved a direct hit on the aerial target,destroying it completely, a HAL release said.
Madhavan said "None of the helicopters with the militaryservices in the country has demonstrated such a capability. With this, LCH has successfully completed all weapon integration tests and is ready for operational induction."