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Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
101–110 of 174 posts
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have evidence? India was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, and I believe their current stance is a result of their fidelity to the movements ideals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
Having evidence is impossible at this point, however there are some hints. https://www.politico.eu/article/indias-stance-on-the-ukraine...
Again, repeated claims that India is siding with Russia proffered with no arguments whatsoever. The whole funding the invasion narrative is complete nonsense. The EU still is the largest importer of Russian crude oil, is the EU siding with Russia too?
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think we’re in a transition period where it looks like drones will probably replace scout and attack helicopters. In the mean time a chopper like this probably still has a role, but I think they’re on the wrong side of history with this. For now though, while western militaries can afford to hand out LAWS and MANPADS to their troops like sweets, India’s main rivals probably can’t. Yes an individual MANPAD is much c…
> The main saving grace of a system like this is that the munitions, unguided rockets and cannon rounds, are pretty cheap. In contrast while drones are much cheaper than the chopper, they’re very expensive as munitions. Based on the current war in Ukraine, this isn't true at all. Even relatively expensive loitering munitions (compare to mortars dropped from DJI drones) like the Switchblade 600 cost in the range of $1…
> There is no scenario in which a manned rotary craft competes with a drone on cost.
What drone competes with a manned MH-74 on cost? It seems like the traditional drone advantages disappear when the payload is humans.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#104Super interesting about all the high altitude needs of this and the Cheetah with links in other comments. I remember growing up in Colorado there were certain places and certain mountain passes that most helicopters couldn't do, I even remember one time an Antanov was ad DIA and couldn't take off because of the combination of altitude of the runway and particularly warm temperatures that day
I worked on heliportable seismic crews a long time ago all over the western and central US. Many of them used Bell helicopters Jet Rangers. Hueys were still dominant in offshore operations flying out of Louisiana.
In the mountain states there were several bad crashes and enough of them involved Jet Rangers that it acquired the nickname "Death Ranger" on a couple crews I was with. Probably not the helicopter's fault since it has a great reputation everywhere else. Bad things happen when you ignore safety training and maintenance. Those seismic crews were full of dopeheads.
For lifting in the mountains you almost always saw the French Aerospatiale Lama. It was a great helicopter and when equipped with a long enough line could move your drills and assorted equipment anywhere on the slope.
Most pilots back then were Vietnam veterans. You always knew you were in good hands with one of those guys flying. I imagine most are retired by now. One in my area rebuilds helicopters for military museums and other clients. I see him fairly often on low level flights checking everything out on his latest rebuild.
I've loved helicopters since I was a kid growing up near Ft Hood during the Vietnam War. The skies were always filled with helicopters. To this day when I'm inside and hear a chopper I feel the urge to run outside a see which one it is. I am apparently too old now to reasonably expect to be able to grow out of it. They all have distinctive approach and departure sound profiles. The strangest helicopter I have seen was a full-size robotic chopper (large enough for pilot and co-pilot but it had no cockpit windshield at all) that was flying along near my house one day less than a hundred feet off the ground. I looked for any documentation online about it but only found one military chopper that looked like it and no mention of civilian use.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#105Quoted post unavailable.
What does that have anything to do with what's been posted on here? Just seems like a sly remark to make.
For instance, every time the US makes advancements in technology, we don't scream that it solves the plethora of disproportionate issues it has for a developed nation. Why? It does not advance the conversation and is unrelated.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#106My takeaway is that India can use this as a means to get greater internal investment - every $Xm dollars a copter costa is not sent to US firms but becomes grist to the mill for Indian metalworkers, Indian engine manufacturers etc etc. Just keep the corruption out of the process and let the multiplier do its work.
India buys a lot of its arms from former Soviet countries.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The main saving grace of a system like this is that the munitions, unguided rockets and cannon rounds, are pretty cheap. In contrast while drones are much cheaper than the chopper, they’re very expensive as munitions. Based on the current war in Ukraine, this isn't true at all. Even relatively expensive loitering munitions (compare to mortars dropped from DJI drones) like the Switchblade 600 cost in the range of $1…
> There is no scenario in which a manned rotary craft competes with a drone on cost. What drone competes with a manned MH-74 on cost? It seems like the traditional drone advantages disappear when the payload is humans.
Goal posts have now crossed state lines.
And to actually the thread, drones ARE being worked on that can go do search and rescue, bringing back the victim. Safer for crew, better coverage and can get into places a traditional rotor craft can't.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#108Where do attack helicopters fit into modern war, out of curiosity? From my very uninformed point of view -- seems like in a world where man-portable weapons are getting more and more capable, being in a relatively (compared to jets) slowly moving, lightly (?) armored flying vehicle would be pretty terrifying.
Manpads really aren't all that effective against helicopters. I don't think anything has fundamentally changed in the past 40ish years in regards to the ubiquitousness of manpads or how they work. Helicopters are comparatively cheap, effective, flexible and difficult to shoot down without proper AA, but that's what combined arms is for, or a lot of luck. Only about 40 helicopters were lost to hostile fire in Iraq fro…
Russian helicopters have had a rough time because of Stingers in Afghanistan and they do not seem to be fairing a lot better in Ukraine.
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#109India could benefit greatly from restricting the emmigration of her top talented people. Right now the smartest Indians work abroad. The increasingly anti-west foreign policy might be early indications of steps towards that.
Indian society is hostile towards women's and LGBTQ freedoms. Why should an Indian woman or LGBTQ person (or both) who has emigrated to a freer society have to go back to that?
Re: Indian Air Force inducts natively developed light combat helicopter ‘Prachanda’
#110Quoted post unavailable.
You seem really butthurt about something. And yes the Wikipedia article you linked literally talks about how the government has made cleanliness a priority. India lives rent free in your head it seems