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Hindustan Aeronautics ALH

Type (Muster)
Medium-lift multi-purpose turbine helicopter

Country (Land)
India (Indien)

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
15/1 Cubbon Road
Bangalore 560 001

Phone:0091-80/2256901
Fax: 0091-80/2258758

General data (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 2
Passengers (Passagiere): 12 (normal) or 14 in high-density configuration or 6 in VIP layout

Armament:
In its naval variant, the ALH has two hardpoints on the fuselage for Torpedos, depth charges or anti-ship missiles.
As an army helicopter, the ALH can take a 20-mm gun turret plus 8 anti-tank missiles or 4 x 68 mm rocket pods or 4 air-to-air missiles on outriggers.

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x Turboméca TM333-2B or LHTEC T800 turboshafts
Power (Leistung): 2 x 748 kW at take-off, 663 kW maximum continuous, 788 kW contingency for 2,5 minutes.

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Overall length, rotors turning (Länge über drehende Rotoren): 15,87 m
Fuselage length (Rumpflänge): 13,43 m
Fuselage width (Rumpfbreite): 2,00 m
Height (Höhe): 4,98 m over tail rotor (4,91 m with wheel gear)
Width over landing gear (Breite): 2,6 m
Rotor diameter (Rotordurchmesser): 13,2 m
Tail rotor diameter (Heckrotordurchmesser): 2,55 m

Cabin height (Kabinenhöhe): 1,42 m
Cabin width (Kabinenbreibe): ca. 1,95 m maximum
Cabin volume (Kabinenvolumen): 7,33 cu m

Weights (Massen)
Empty weight (Leermasse): 2450 kg
Fuel (Kraftstoff): 1040 kg
Usefull load (Nutzlast): 2000 kg
Underslung load (Außenlast): 1500 kg
Design gross weight (normale Startmasse): 4000 kg
Max. take-off weight (Max. Startmasse): 5500 kg

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Max. continuous speed (max. Dauergeschwindigkeit): 290 km/h
Cruise speed (Reisegeschwindigkeit): 245 km/h
Max. Rate of climb (Steigrate): 13 m/s
Range (Reichweite): 800 km with 20 min reserves (around 1000 kg payload), or 400 km with around 1500 kg payload
Endurance (Flugdauer): 4 hours with 20 min reserve

Price (Kosten)
Total development cost reportedly over 150 million US-Dollars. Stated price for the ALH is around 4 to 4,5 million US-Dollars.

Customers (Kunden)
It is said that Indian army, air force,navy and coast guard have a long-term requirement of around 300 ALHs.

Competition (Konkurrenz)
Bell 412
Eurocopter AS 364N4 Dauphin
Sikorsky S-76
Westland Lynx

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
The ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) is designed as a multirole machine for both military and civil applications, with the main demand expected to come from the Indian armed forces (army and navy). From July 1984, work at HAL was supported by MBB (now Eurocopter Deutschland), and the ALH features modern technology like a hingeless composite main rotor with elastomeric bearings and a bearingless tail rotor. Also, composites are used in the airframe (nose, doors, fairings part of the tail).
Four prototoyes were built at Bangalore:

PT1: "Official" first flight 30. August 1992
PT2: First flight 8. April 1993
PTA: First flight 28. May 1994. Army specific version
PTN: First flight 26. December 1995. Navy version with wheel landing gear.

Also, one more helicopter is now used for civil certification work, to be achieved by mid 1998. International marketing depends on finding an experienced partner. Service entry with the military is also planned for 1998, with around a dozen aircraft being built.

Last updated October 16, 1997

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