With India's first indigenous dedicated attack helicopter Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) reaching the induction phase, all eyes are on the development of medium lift category Indian Multirole Helicopter (IMRH) to replace the fleets of Air Force's workhorse Mi-17 and other helicopters with the Indian armed forces which will start phasing out over the coming decade.
The state-owned aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has over the last two decades rolled out three indigenously designed and developed helicopters in light category — below 10 ton weight. These include 5 tonne class Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, its weaponised version ALH Rudra, the LCH. It has also developed a 3 tonne class Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), primarily developed as a replacement for the French origin legacy helicopter Chetak and Cheetah. After successful indigenous development of the 3 tonne and 5 tonne helicopters, the next logical step is a made-in-India medium lift helicopter in the 13 tonne category — IMRH.
On March 11 this year, the Ministry of Defence identified 18 major strategic platforms for industry-led design and development in the country. In line with the announcement in the Union Budget 2022-23 that allocated 25 per cent of the defence research and development budget for industry-led effort, these 18 critical platforms have been identified for research and development under various routes. The list includes the IMRH under the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)…
