All In The Air

THE crowd of a few hundred cheered enthusiastically. For nearly 10 minutes on a warm and clear Bangalore morning last fortnight, Wing Commander C.D. Upadhyay had displayed an array of manoeuvres on the prototype of the Advanced Light Helicopter (A L H), flying at high speed, making formations, dipping to low altitudes and demonstrating the static manoeuvres the machine was capable of. Nearby stood the fourth and penultimate A L H p rototype, the naval version of the helicopter waiting to take to the air in a few weeks' time. And beaming aeronautics engineers and scientists of the country looked on, patting themselves on the back.

Not only were they on the threshold of successfully ending the quarter century - long design of an indigenous helicopter but the decade-long efforts to build India's own aircraft had also touched an important landmark. The much-awaited Light Combat Aircraft (L C A) was getting a coat of paint at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's (H A L) Bangalore complex and was being readied for roll-out this November.

While the LCA technology demonstrator is expected to take to the skies late next year, commercial production of the ALH— which is targeted at the international aircraft market— has already been launched and the first 10 choppers will be delivered to the Indian defence sector in 1997.

However, the ALH and LCA projects have been the focus of much discussion for the high - profile indigenous engineering prospects they presented at the time of their conception as well as the subsequent controversies, glitches and delays during their making, especially in that of the LCA.

From its conception in 1970 to the flight of the first prototype in August 1992, the estimated Rs 500-crore design and development of the A L H is a story of unrelenting efforts to gain a foothold in the $20 billion international helicopter industry which H A L entered 40 years behind schedule. The twin-engine A L H belongs to a workhouse class of helicopters that can perform multiple functions. These include aiding troop movement, aerial mine laying, conducting aerial observations and rescue operations as well as civilian functions such as off shore operations and policing. In addition, they provide cover for the navy in anti-surface vessel and anti-submarine warfare.

Held against its peers abroad, the French Dauphin, Bell 212 and 412, and United Technologies' S-76, the H A L's A L H is a generation ahead. The A L H incorporates advanced technology features such as a hingeless main rotor and a bearingless tail rotor made of composites and an integrated dynamic system which combines various rotor control systems into one unit. The Indian helicopter is also the first of its class with a composite structure that enables load bearing, most notably the tail boom.

Little wonder that senior engineers at H A L and technocrats in the Defence Production and Supplies Department are elated. Says Dr C.G. Krishnadas Nair, managing director, H A L ( Bangalore Complex): "This achievement is a quantum jump. The technological input that has gone into our A L H puts us in the fore f ront of helicopter technology in the world." Despite the engine being foreign, Nair claims the A L H will have a targeted indigenous value of 70 per cent.

And expectations are high. R.N. Sharma, chairman, H A L, claims there exists a replacement market alone of about 2,500 machines of this class in the total world market every year of which HAL can easily get 1,000. Besides, fresh orders in India alone are initially expected to be about 300 a year in the military and civilian sector together. And that would be enough to keep the helicopter division sweating for half a decade. A major factor contributing to the confidence in HAL is the clear price advantage held by ALH against foreign helicopters of the same class.

The Indian ALH is priced at $4.5 million (Rs 15 crore) against the Bells, Dauphins and Sikorskys which cost around $6.5 million (Rs 22 crore). And HAL has decided to take on the global players on their home turf by tying up with foreign partners for manufacturing the helicopter. Says Nair: "We expect business from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and USA. But for that we will have to get into the production phase fast unlike the design and development process which was time-consuming."

The optimism however is not shared by the international market. Says Mike Robbins, managing director, Bell Helicopters, Textron India Inc liaison office: "The world market does not have the capacity to absorb the number of helicopters H A L is talking about." Robbins claims the world market requirement— excluding the C I S countries— for new helicopters is in the region of 500 a year. "And that is not a huge number." A senior executive of Israel Aircraft Industry points out that the tendency among armed forces of the world is to continuously upgrade and modernise their existing aircraft rather than buy new machines. Says he: "There are products which have to be in the international military market Just-In-Time. The A L H might be able to make its presence felt only in Asia, which is not a big market. My feeling is that your country is going to lose a lot of money. "

But Nair, while agreeing that upgradation of aircraft affects the market for new machines, believes that when the cost of upgradation exceeds that of buying a new aircraft, it becomes uneconomical and obsolete to upgrade rather than go for a new machine. That optimism is, however, not fully shared by senior H A L executives in the helicopter division. "Trying to sell to the US the A L H manufacturred in Bangalore, even with a foreign tie-up, is going to be an impossible task. We will have to manufacture the components here and assemble it all there. And that has not even been considered by H A L," says a senior H A L executive who did not want to be named. Moreover, the aircraft will have to go through the rigorous Federal Aviation Administration cert i fication procedures.

While the doubts about the A L H relate more to market prospects and the need to jostle for a place under the sun, the L C A poses more serious questions that challenge the very need for the fighter aircraft. The Rs 2,100-crore project to make India's own fighter aircraft— in the same class as the Swedish Jas-39 and the Enrofighter 2000— was conceived in 1985 with the twin objective of replacing India's ageing MiG-21 fighter aircraft fleet and selling it in West Asian countries as an economical alternative to the expensive European fighter.

"The threat perception with which the LCA was conceived and the current threat perception when it is still to roll out has changed drastically," points out a senior aeronautics engineer involved with the project. The current need among the world's militaries is for fighters such as the Russian SU-35, the American F-16 and F-18, the French Mirage 2000 and the Russian MiG-29M and MiG-31. And the LCA does not fit into the scheme of things. Sources in the IAF corroborate the view.

A report by a US-based aviation industry analyst published early this year said the L C A's future remained highly speculative and is likely to be eclipsed by the upgradation of India's existing fleet and the MiG-29M and MiG-31 aircraft it is buying. The current glut in the fighter aircraft market and the innate desire to p refer upgrades will in all likelihood take away the cost, light-weight and easy-maintenance advantage the L C A is supposed to hold.

Beset by design delays, the first L C A prototype to be rolled out this month is the result of "pushing" by the Aeronautical Development Agency (A D A) , the central authority which took it upon itself to design the fighter in collaboration with H A L among others, says the aeronautics engineer. Though the L C A, which incorporates stealth technology enabling it to slip past radars to some extent, is scheduled to be inducted into service around 2003, much depends on the extensive flight tests that need to be conducted on the prototypes. While it is proposed to have six prototypes tested for three years before certification and production, government approval has been received for two aircraft only. "It will there f o re take nine years to complete all tests assuming there are no crashes. If one of the two aircraft crashes, it will take double the time— 18 years. And the chances of a crash in a project of this nature are unbelievably high," says the aeronautics engineer.

Dr Kota Harinarayana, L C A project director, at A D A, Bangalore , refused to discuss the country 's aeronautics indust ry's pet project. When contacted by Outlook , Nair claimed that there was no change in the demand for the L C A. "Air Chief Marshall S.K. Kaul, in fact, reinforced the I A F's requirement of the L C A during his review," he says.

The future of the LCA now depends on three crucial factors: its performance during the trial period, the subsequent reaction of the IAF and the stance of the Government towards commercial production. And until a decision is arrived at, the LCA project will remain nothing more than a technology demonstrator. An expensive one at that.