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Mi-17V-5

Winged Power
IAF likely to double its tactical and strategic lift capabilities in the next five years
PraSun K. SenGuPta

wItH INDIA NOw SEEMINGlY GOing on a belated overdrive for developing the military infrastructure along Indias 4,057km disputed frontier with China, the next five years will likely witness a virtual doubling of the Indian Air Forces (IAF) tactical and strategic airlift capabilities (in support of the Indian Armys ground-based formations deployed along the line of Actual Control, or lAC), notably in the area of rotarywinged aviation. This follows the IAFs decision two years ago to operationalise a string of world war II-era advanced landing grounds (AlG) and heli-bases all along the lAC, beginning with the one at Daulat Beg Oldi in the sub-sector north (SSN) area of ladakh (on 31 May, 2008), and followed by Fukche on 24 September 2008, and Nyoma, south of Chushul on 18 September 2009. Other AlGs now in the process of being re-activated and upgraded in Arunachal Pradesh include tuting (Upper Siang district), Mechuka (west Siang),

vijaynagar (Changlang) and Passigat (East Siang district). Going hand in hand with this is the construction of some 50 new helipads in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. As part of the IAFs re-jigged aerial logistics operational plans, its upgraded An-32Bs and the projected 12 lockheed Martinsupplied C-130J-30 Stretched Hercules will henceforth be committed to providing all-year round air maintenance for forward-deployed Indian Army formations all along the lAC, while its expanded fleet of medium-lift helicopters and to-be-acquired heavylift helicopters will be free to provide tactical air transportation of troops, provide perishable supplies for troops deployed along the lAC (via dropping zones), as well as deal with time-urgent MEDEvAC sortie requirements. Each and every one of these AlGs, air bases and helipads will be equipped with new-generation remote-controlled night landing aids, portable lighting systems and man-portable SAtCOM-based communications systems, with the bulk of such hardware being acquired by the IAF, and the rest by the Indian Army. As far as medium-lift helicopter go, the IAF will begin receiving its first of 80 new-build Mi-17-v5s being built by Russias tatarstan-based Kazan helicopter Plant from March 2011, with

deliveries ending by 2014. These helicopters, which had been ordered from Russia on 5 December 2008 under a contract valued at USD 1,345,836,495.83 will be utilised for special heliborne operations, air-maintenance, transportation of troops and equipment, searchand-rescue, casualty evacuation and for providing aerial suppressive firepower. while all Mi-17v-5s will be fitted with night vision device-compatible glass cockpits, several of them will also be equipped with chin-mounted FlIR pods. A follow-on order for 59 additional Mi-17v-5s is expected to be placed with Russias Rosoboronexport State Corp later this year. The IAF-specific Mi-17v-5 will feature a loading ramp (instead of the traditional rear clamshells), a starboard door (which has necessitated moving the auxiliary power unit above the door), and a Dolphin-shaped nose section under which a stabilised pod containing a thermal imager/tv is fitted. The entire airframe will feature a high degree of ballistics tolerance and crashresistance. It will also come equipped with an emergency flotation system. Its internal cabin volume will be sufficient for transporting up to 26 fully-equipped infantry soldiers for vertical envelopment operations. For the air assault role, the Mi-17v-5 will come equipped with a

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Mi-26T2 (above) and CH-47F Chinook

wide array of external stores mounted on weapons racks on each side of the fuselage. For direct fire-support operations, the Mi-17v-5 will have six external hardpoints to carry four rocket pods like the S-5 rocket pods firing Uv-57-32 57mm unguided rockets, or B8v20-A rocket pods each housing 20 S-8 80mm rockets, or B13l rocket pods each carrying five S-13 122mm rockets, or four S-24 250mm rockets. The forward and aft hemispheres of the Mi-17v-5 will be protected by detachable PKt 7.62mm machine-guns with independent power supply and remote control circuits. The Mi-17v-5 will also come equipped with a new main rotor system comprising five blades built with carbon-reinforced fibre, main rotor hub with elastomeric hinges, and a modified swash plate. The helicopter will be powered by twin Klimov vK-2500P engines optimised for hot-and-high flight operations, and a new transmission and gearbox that are able to better exploit the 2,700hp available from the vK-2500Ps. The engines will provide 2,700hp for takeoff, 2,100hp for continuous flight and 1,900hp for cruise flight when carrying 26 troops. The total technical service life (ttSl) of the vK-2500P is 9,000 hours, which is 3,000 hours more than comparable turboshaft engines built by turbomeca and GE Aero Engines. Additional air filters on the turbine air intakes and turbine gas diffuser exhausts will ensure that the Mi-17v-5 can operate in and out of dusty environments and at the same time have a low infra-red signature. In addition, new composite main and tail rotor blades will combine to provide out-of-ground-effect hover capabilities at 11,500kg takeoff weight of 3,700 metres ISA, and hover at 4,500 metres ISA and 3,900 metres ISA in-ground effect. The new-design APU will enable air-conditioning or heating to be used during the takeoff phase, and the use of plug-in hydraulic appliances for durations of up to six hours.

The Mi17v-5 will also feature an extra port door on the starboard side, and flat rear fuselage ramp for easier access. The avionics suite, integrated via a MIlStD-1553B digital data bus, will include a night vision goggle-compatible cockpit display package; a communications package inclusive of HF/vHF/UHF encrypted radios and a secure data link; integrated self-protection package comprising a radar warning receiver, infra-red (IR) jammer, combined laser/missile warner, and chaff/flare dispensers; navigation package that will include a ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system coupled to a GPS receiver, weather radar and IFF transponder; and a multisensor stabilised turret containing a 3rd generation FlIR and CCD camera. vympels Uv-30MK flare dispensers will also fitted on board. In another development, Indias ministry of defence (MoD) has contracted Honeywell Aerospace for upgrading the avionics suites of the IAFs existing fleet of 80-odd Mi-171 tactical airlift helicopters (including the 40 bought in the aftermath of Operation vijay in 1999) at a cost of USD 100 million. Once upgraded, these Mi-171s will be employed for all-weather troop insertion/extraction, casualty evacuation, aerial logistics, search-and-rescue, and reconnaissance-cum-observation over mountainous terrain. Honeywells Mi17 EDZ 756 Flight Deck has all the features and functionality one needs to retrofit the Mi-171s existing flight deck with a flexible and highly integrated avi-

onics suite. The EDZ 756 suite includes a four-axis autopilot, and Primus Epic CDS/ system. In the competitive bidding process now underway for supplying an initial 15 (and ultimately 24) new-generation heavylift helicopters, Russias Oboronprom State Corp has offered the Mi-46t2 heavylift helicopter, while US-based Boeing Integrated Defense Systems last October proposed its CH-47F Chinook. Incidentally, the heavylift helicopter requirement has been broken down into two components, under which any bidder can offer to supply six heavylift helicopters to replace the IAFs existing five Mi-26ts, plus another 10 heavy utility helicopters ( for high-altitude aerial logistics) and another nine of the same model that will be configured for highaltitude combat search-and-rescue. Between the two heavyweight contenders, the CH-47F Chinook is believed to be the preferred choice, as it has, since late 2001, emerged as the worlds standard for providing heavylift and high-altitude transportation for a multitude of missions, with a proven track record of military, humanitarian, disaster-relief, search-and-rescue and firefighting missions on six continents in all climates and conditions. The CH-47F is capable of transporting 55 troops or two combatequipped light strike vehicles and their full crew/weapons complement.;

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