Indian Army and Navy to get US choppers under the defence pact

India and the US on Tuesday closed defence deals worth $3 billion during the two-day visit of US President Donald J Trump, which included the sale of state-of-the-choppers — six AH-64E Apache Helicopters and 24 MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters to India under the Foreign Military Sales program of the US government.

While the Indian Army would get the advanced multi-role Apache helicopters whose fuselages and aerostructures will be locally made at Hyderabad, the MH-60 Romeo Sea Hawk choppers, which have anti-submarine capabilities are meant for the Indian Navy.

As per the contract, the six Apache choppers, costing $930 million, would be made available to India by 2023. On other hand, MH-60R helicopters, designed to hunt down submarines and even attack ships, apart from taking up search and rescue operations would replace the Indian Navy’s ageing fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters. While six of the Sikorsky-built choppers will be delivered early next year, the remaining 18 will join the fleet over two years in batches, according to reliable sources. They are said to cost $2.6 billion in total.

An advanced attack helicopter, Apache is two-turboshaft attack chopper with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems and is capable of carrying chain gun, missiles and rockets. According to its makers, Boeing, manufacturing of Apache fuselages and aerostructures is outsourced to its Indian joint venture with the Tata Group, Tata Boeing Aerospace Ltd, which rolled out the first fuselage in 2018.

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