Nomination for

Engineering Excellence Award 2013

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Project Title : Weaponisation of Advanced Light Helicopter – “Making of Rudra”

Submitted by

Organisation : Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Sector : Public Sector – Defence

Address : 15/1, Cubbon Road,

Corporate office,

Bangalore - 560001

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Project Description

The advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) is a flagship helicopter platform indigenously Designed, Developed and Built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

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Multi role, multi mission machine designed to meet the requirements of Indian Armed Services.

Utility variants of ALH (Dhruv) are deployed with Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and BSF.

To make ALH a ‘tactical air asset’ with superior aerial power, requirements for weaponisation were laid out by Defence Services.

HAL team took up the challenge to give ALH the highest standard of Combat Capability in a crucial battlefield scenario.

ALH was suitably configured to incorporate • Weapon Systems• Targeting Systems• Warning & Counter Measure Systems

Project Description

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ALH-WSI derives its combat edge from Weapons and Mission Systems installed with:

• 20mm Turreted Gun

• 70mm rockets

• Air-to-Air missiles (ATAM)

• Electro Optic Pod (EO Pod)

• Helmet Pointing System (HPS)

• Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite (Radar Warning, Laser Warning and Missile Warning Systems)

• Flare and Chaff Dispenser (FCD)

• Video Data Recorder

Project Details

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Project Status

The ALH Mk-IV Army version ‘Rudra’ was accorded Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) on 1st Feb 2013.

The first two Rudra’s were exhibited in Aero India 2013

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Images of rocket firing, flare dispensing

Images of gun firing and ATAM firing

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What all makes this project eligible for Engineering Excellence Award 2013

It is the only Weaponised platform with advanced capabilities which is custom-built to the requirements of the Indian Armed forces for warfare from Sea-level to High altitude at Himalayan mountain ranges as would be required by India.

ALH-WSI is capable of high altitude operations with larger pay loads (250Kg) as compared to Cheetah helicopter, which is the only Helicopter that operates at High altitudes.

Extensive use of best of the class armament of future attention to give the Indian armed forces an combat edge in any battle situation.

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The weaponised ALH embodies host of user-friendly features and technologies matching with the platforms of the leading helicopter manufacturers in its class.

It has best in-class cabin volume with seating for 14 fully equipped troops. In fact, the cabin space is comparable with even the 9-tonne All-Up Weight (AUW) class Black Hawk, a leading product in Global market.

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ALH at Himalayas ALH on Ship

ALH with Commandos

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5 points which make this project innovative

Composite Technologies for manufacturing of Blades and Structural assemblies

Vibration reduction using Anti Resonance Isolation System (ARIS) / 2nd generation Active Vibration Control System (AVCS) and Vibration monitoring using Vibration Monitoring System (VMS)

Co-development of higher powered engine with a French partner.

Glass Cockpit incorporating Multi Function Displays (MFDs), Control & Display Units (CDUs) and Display & Mission Computers (DMCs) providing redundancy to on-board operations / computations.

Incorporation of crashworthy design features.

Hi-efficiency transmission system components development.

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5 points on the operational excellence of the project

All engineering for integrating the weapon system and extensive ground and flight testing to prove the system were conducted in India by Indian technical manpower.

Skills and technology of the highest level developed and assimilated during the course of the integration.

Supply-chain management across international markets as weapon system components were to be sourced from globally established players.

The project was sanctioned in July 2005. A time budget of around 8 years was assessed. The IOC was obtained in Feb 13 (target- Nov2013).

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Design collaboration/sourcing for rotors which are designed to have high response control power that translate into good agility and has got added benefits of excellent handling at high altitudes. Its maneuverability and high altitude performance is better than any other helicopter in current Indian Armed Services inventory, including Attack Helicopters.

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5 points on as to how this project has added to the self reliance of India in the chosen sector

The Helicopter gunship designed and manufactured in India is a major step in achieving self reliance in defense as it reduces the dependence on imported helicopter gunships, support for which could be denied during times of need.

Indigenous design & manufacturing of Composite Parts, technology for which is only available in very restricted sources globally.

Indigenous design & manufacturing of Transmission System

Indigenous design & manufacturing of Structural assemblies

In-house capability of Helicopter Analysis ( Stress, Dynamics & Aerodynamics )

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5 key impacts which this project has made

The Defence services have got a potent platform and easily maintainable fleet capable of performing in adverse and all-weather conditions thus reducing dependence on foreign suppliers for this capability.

Future Helicopter platforms like Light Combat Helicopter ( 5.5 Ton Class ) , Light Utility Helicopter ( 3 Ton Class ) and Multi Role Helicopters ( 10 Ton Class ) are built with extension of technological know-how spin-off from this project.

Design & Development of Rotary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (R-UAV) with mission-control expertise.

Localisation of Technology will help in growth of Military Industrial landscape in India which is in very nascent stage at present.

Enhanced Export potential of Indian Military machine & hardware.

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5 points which illumines more on the future-readiness of the project

Absorption of Composite manufacturing technology as composites will majorly cater to Helicopter Build material in near future.

Expertise gained on Attack- mission management.

Design of Operational Capability in mission mode at rarefied atmosphere.

Software defined communication /navigation equipment & control.

All weather Flight Control Learnings for development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology

End of Presentation