Bhubaneswar: India and Argentina are most likely heading forward to seal a Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) deal for 20 HAL Prachand over the more anticipated LCA Tejas deal which is facing hindrance due to the British components used in the Light Combat Aircraft.
Speculations of an aircraft deal between India and Argentina were high ever since it was announced that the Argentine Defence Minister Jorge Enrique Taiana will come to India on a four-day visit.
Talking to the media Wednesday, the Argentinian Defence Minister Taiana clarified Argentina’s stance on considering Tejas for the LCA deal, which according to minister is only possible if the platform comes with alternatives for the British components.
As many as 16 components in LCA Tejas are British-manufactured. The UK has also sanctions, which refuse licenses on the export and trade of British components to enhance Argentine military capability.
Though India and Argentina seem not to be moving ahead with the Light Combat Aircraft deal for now, but there is a possibility of Defence Minister Jorge Taiana signing a ‘Letter of Intent’ for 20 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) during his India visit as per some Argentinian reports.
The Argentine Defence Minister visited the Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) facility July 20, where he signed the ‘letter of intent’ for productive cooperation in order to renew the fleet of Light and Medium Utility helicopters for the Argentinian Armed Forces.
En nuestra visita a @HALHQBLR firmamos una carta de intención de cooperación productiva con el fin de renovar la flota de helicópteros Utilitarios Livianos y Medianos para las Fuerzas Armadas.
Seguimos fortaleciendo las capacidades de nuestras Fuerzas Armadas. pic.twitter.com/8JPZuTUNku
— Jorge Taiana (@JorgeTaiana) July 20, 2023
However, the Argentine Forces have a long pending requirement for Combat Helicopters in their fleet, and as of now only operate multirole utility helicopters. A team of HAL officials that visited the South American nation last month had even pitched their LCH and ALH platforms, HAL Prachand and HAL Dhruv respectively along with LCA Tejas.
The Indian forces have already started receiving the helicopters of the initial deal for 15 LCH from HAL, out of which 10 are to be given to the Indian Air Force and 5 to the Indian Army and there is also swift progress going on in the platform’s serial production variant, in which some important missing defence suites are being incorporated and could be a good fit for the Argentinian requirement.
The HAL Prachand comes with 4 hardpoints, and can fire 70 mm rockets. The platform also has a 20 mm M621 cannon, which has a firing capacity of 400 rounds. The LCH can be integrated with a variety of ammo like indigenous Dhruvastra and Helina Anti-Tank Guided missiles along with French Mistral Air-to-Air missiles and AGM-114R or Hellfire missiles, which makes it a compact platform in its category.