Peru, Ecuador Place Orders for HAL Dhruv ALH Helicopters
Dated 29/6/2008
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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited clinched a USD 51 million deal with the South American Republic of Ecuador for the sale of seven 'Dhruv' Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH). The Bangalore-based PSU has also bagged two orders for its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) from Peru, sources said.
The deal signed between Ecuador Aviation Authority and blue chip state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) envisages the supply of seven helicopters in semi knock-down conditions to the Republic in a time-frame of 15 months to two years, defence ministry officials said.
With this, India has joined a select group of nations with a capability to bid for international contracts for choppers. So far, the helicopter market has been dominated by US, European companies and Russia.
The ALH 'Dhruv' has been making waves in international air shows world over from the past two years but international sales of the helicopter have eluded HAL. HAL came very near bagging its first international order when it bid for the Chilean armed forces contract two years ago, but was beaten to the closing line by the US competitors.
The orders for the 5.5-tonne class (dry weight 3.3 tonne) ALH, christened Dhruv, are for two heli-ambulances to be used by the country's health services. According to sources, the craft has been priced around Rs 40 crore apiece, 10-15 per cent lower than similar machines in its class.
The interiors of the ALH ambulances to be delivered to Peru will be done up in Europe. HAL is in talks with a few firms specialising in interiors and other accessories typically required by heli-ambulances.
"The reason for interiors being done in Europe is that there are no firms in India specialising in heli-ambulance interiors," an HAL source added.
Earlier, supply and service contracts with the Myanmarese and Chilean governments fell through either because of political pressure or competitor's lobbying. The contract with the Nepal Air Force is said to have run into rough weather when "technical problems" were detected in one of the two ALHs sold to the country in 2004.
HAL sources said that ALH had impressed the Chileans with its manoeuvering ability and user-friendly avionics.
"HAL even flew down four aircraft to Chile and put them through paces. The successful trials prompted the Chilean government to consider the possibility of buying a few choppers. Pressure from government quarters in the US , however, forced Chile to cancel the order and root for Canadian Bell Helicopter's Bell 412, despite the price advantage offered by HAL," the source added.
An undeterred HAL targeted other countries in South America buoyed by its clear price edge over Bell and Eurocopter. HAL displayed the chopper at international aero shows in Singapore, Paris, Dubai, and Farnborough (UK).
The effort is now translating into customer enquiries. HAL has over the past year received enquiries from the national air forces of 35 different countries for the ALH, coupled with requests for demonstrations, according to industry sources. More contracts are clearly within reach for a chopper which made a lacklustre debut in the autumn of 1992, and later, laid low by US sanctions in 1998.
ALH comes in different configurations "but the copter can be adapted to any role and hence should have a good market," according to Ratan Shrivastava, director of Frost & Sullivan's Aerospace & Defence practice (South Asia and West Asia).
Many of the prospective customers who evinced interest in the indigenously developed all-terrain chopper are air forces from Latin America, Africa, West Asia, South East Asia and a few Pacific Rim nations.
While HAL has gone about developing the chopper with customary self-effacement, ALH has not been short of publicity after series production started in 2002. The first lot of variants of the chopper were delivered to the three Indian defence services and the Coast Guard in March that year.
By December, the Army is set to take delivery of the weapon-fitted version of ALH. Over 75 helicopters were delivered to the Army by end-2007, while 10 more operate in the civilian space. HAL plans to produce a maximum of 23 units annually.
Heli-ambulances have attracted interest in the domestic market too, according to Wing Commander C D Upadhyaya, chief test pilot with HAL's rotary wing. Though, the cost of operating the chopper has been a deterrent to purchase plans taking off. "Every time, we are stuck with the same question – who will pay for it? But, now there appears to be some discussions on the issue with a few insurance firms."
Industry experts note that overall the helicopter is still priced a few crores at the higher side. Besides, ALH critics feel that the machine is yet to create a turbulence in the global markets by way of high conversion rate (customer enquiries translating into actual sales).
