HAL gets Initial Operational Clearance from Govt for Light Utility Helicopter

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has received the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) paving the way for its production.

R Madhavan, CMD, HAL received the IOC document from received G Sateesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO, at the Bandhan programme at DefExpo 2020 in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Madhavan said, “This is a momentous occasion for HAL. It reinforces our commitment towards indigenous R&D programmes on self-reliance and enhancing operational effectiveness of the Indian Armed Forces. HAL is fully geared up to fulfil the requirements of its customers in a time bound manner.”

Arup Chatterjee, Director, Engineering & R&D, HAL, said the performance of basic configuration of LUH in all terrains and under all weather conditions is satisfactory and HAL is moving towards the next phase of integrating and flight testing of Mission and Role Equipment on the LUH.

Agreements signed

The company also signed a slew of agreements on Friday at Lucknow. It signed a ‘Lease Agreement’ with Turbo Aviation Private Ltd for operating two Do-228 aircraft under the UDAN scheme. TAPL will be operating from Lucknow.

HAL signed a contract with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for midlife upgradation programme of 17 CG Do-228 aircraft manufactured by HAL Kanpur.

HAL also signed an MoU with IIT-Kanpur for providing Do-228 or HS 748 aircraft for the institute’s cloud seeding projects.

HAL & JSC Rosoboronexport

HAL and JSC Rosoboronexport signed an MoU for export of spares and services to friendly countries for which licence has been given to HAL. The scope will include Su-30 MKI, AL 31 FP engine, RD33 engines, accessories etc.