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

The military has already projected to HAL an eventual requirement of 65 Prachandas for the IAF and 97 for the army

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