Article Posted on : - Jun 22, 2009

Indian Air Force 197 Light Helicopter. A file photo

PARIS (PTI): India is planning to carry out field trials for procuring 197 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) for the Army and the Air Force in August this year.

"We are planning to carry out the flight evaluation trials for the 197 LUH contract in August this year but the schedule has not yet been finalised. Five vendors are expected to come up with their helicopters for the competition," Indian Defence Ministry officials told PTI here.

The five contenders participating in the contract include the Russian Kazan and Mil, American Sikorsky, Italian Finnmeccanica and European helicopter manufacturers Eurocopter.

The contract, expected to be worth around USD three billion, is one of the few defence contracts where the vendors are required to fulfill around 50 per cent offset obligations.

The offsets clause in the Defence Procurement Procedures makes it mandatory for the companies awarded such deals to invest a certain percentage of the contracts worth back in the Indian defence sector.

In March this year, all the five companies responded to the global Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Defence Ministry last year.

The RFP was sent to six companies, including American Bell Helicopters, but it had backed out of the race citing the high offset obligations required in the contract.

The RFP was released by the Defence Ministry after it had cancelled a previous contract in December 2007 for similar type and number of helicopters. The previous contract was cancelled by the ministry after it found that the chopper offered by Eurocopter for the field trials at that time was a civilian version whereas the company had offered a military version for the deal in its bid.

The chopper engine offered in the Eurocopter's bid was also different from the one fitted in the civilian version, which participated in the trials.

"We would be sending a military version of the helicopter for the field trials for the contract," Eurocopter Vice President Rainer Farid told PTI during the Paris Air Show.

The flight trials will test the performance of the choppers in different geographical locations including high altitude, desert and plains in different weather conditions.

Of the 197 helicopters to be procured under the contract, 133 will be given to the Army and the rest would go to the IAF.

The 197 choppers will help the two services to replace their aging fleet of over 350 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters mostly flying in high altitude conditions in air maintenance roles there and for surveillance as well as search and rescue missions.