HAL Dhruv (in Sanskrit: ध्रुव, North Star) Is a medium multi-role helicopter designed and built by the Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force. It is produced in both civilian and military. The helicopter is used in tasks of transport, armed reconnaissance and Medevac.
Up to now it has made 90 copies, but the Indian company aircraft plans to place at least 500 other machines in the coming years, in both civilian and military market.
Operators[]
- Ecuador
- Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana
- India
- Indian Army Aviation Corps (40)
- Indian Air Force (35)
- Indian Navy (8)
- Indian Coast Guard (9)
- Indian Border Security Force (8 Ordered)[36]
- Indian Central Reserve Police Force (10)
Mauritius
- Mauritius Coast Guard
- Myanmar (ex-Burma)
- Nepal
- Royal Nepal Army Air Service
- Suriname
- Surinaamse Luchtmacht
Specifications[]
General characteristics[]
- Crew: 1 or 2 pilots
- Capacity: 4-12 passengers
- Length: 15.87 m (52 ft 0.8 in)
- Rotor diameter: 13.20 m (43 ft 3.7 in)
- Height: 4.05 m (12 ft 4 in)
- Disc area: 137 m² (1,472 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,502 kg (5,515 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,500 kg (12,125 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Shakti turboshafts, 1000 kW (1400 shp[55])
Alternate engine: 2x Turbomeca TM 333-2B2 turboshafts of 746 kW (1,000 shp) each
Performance[]
- Maximum speed: 280 km/h (175 mph, 150 kn)
- Combat radius: 320 km (200 mi, 175 nmi)
- Ferry range: 827 km (516 mi, 447 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 8382 m (27,500 ft)
- Rate of climb: 8.9 m/s (1,771 ft/min)
- Power/mass: 329.73 W/kg (0.20 hp/lb)
Armament[]
- Missiles: 8 Anti-tank guided missiles
- 4 Air-to-air missiles
- 4 x 68 mm Rocket Pods (Air-Force & Army)
- 2 Torpedoes
- Depth charges or Anti-ship missiles
Comaparable Helicopters[]
- MBB-Kawasaki BK 117
- PZL W-3 Sokol
External links[]
- Maksim Starostin. Aeronautics Dhruv , 1992 in All the world 's helicopters and rotorcrafts. http://www.aviastar.org.
- Jorge Gazzola. HAL ALH Dhruv in helis.com - Helicopter History Site. http://www.helis.com.
- John Pike. Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter ( ALH ) in Military - GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org, 12 March 2009.
Images[]
- Hindustan ALH Dhruv in Airliners.net. http://www.airliners.net/.Retrieved March 16, 2010.
The original article can be found at HAL Dhruv and the edit history here.