Welcome to WARN, Todays News is.
HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS OFFERS PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE
FOR NEW HELICOPTERS.
In the first move of its kind, state enterprise
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has offered
performance-based logistics, or PBL, support,
under which the Indian company will ensure
an integrated package of performance and logistics
support for the homemade advanced light helicopter,
Dhruv.
"PBL guarantee will ensure that the operational
fleet availability improves from 60 percent
to at least 75 percent," according to a senior
HAL executive.
The PBL forms part of a $1.23 billion contract
from March 30 for the sale of Dhruv helicopters.
However, the PBL has been guaranteed only
for the 16 helicopters reserved for the Indian
Coast Guard and not for the remaining 16 helicopters
set aside for the Indian Air Force.
"No foreign original equipment manufacturer
has yet offered PBL to Indian defense forces
since it [is] a very expensive proposition
for them and the project cost would shoot
up drastically if the volumes are low," a
Ministry of Defence official said.
"Moreover, a foreign [original equipment manufacturer]
cannot be trusted to maintain war machines
in times of conflict."
According to a HAL news release, the company
chairman and managing director, T. Suvarna
Raju, said: "The PBL is the purchase of Logistics
support as an integrated, affordable, performance
package designed to optimize system readiness
and meet performance goals for the product
through long-term support arrangements with
clear lines of authority and responsibility."
PBL will increase the operational availability
of the sensors and other equipment on board
the Dhruv helicopters supplied to the Indian
Coast Guard while retaining the existing technical
parameters, according to an Indian Coast Guard
official.
HAL has so far supplied more than 200 advanced
light helicopters, or ALH, to Indian defense
forces.
HAL is also discussing the possibility of
exporting ALHs to Sir Lanka, and there have
been inquiries from Vietnam and Myanmar for
the helo.
However, the company's former executive director
believes HAL shouldn't rush into an export
deal.
"Currently there is need to sustain and improve
ALH with further feedbacks in the next two
to three years before we can go in for export,"
Murli Sama Rao said.
"For export, there is a need to improve not
only the helicopter but its ecosystem in terms
of testers, ground handling, and services
equipment."
Last year, Ecuador terminated the contract
with HAL for Dhruv helicopters after four
of the total seven purchased helicopters in
2009 succumbed to accidents.
That year, a report by India's autonomous
auditing agency, Comptroller and Auditor General
of India, noted that the ALH cannot fly above
5,000 meters, thereby defeating the very purpose
of the project.
The ALH had been designed for the Indian Army
and the Air Force by HAL to fly up to 20,000
feet, according to the report.
The MoD official, however, said the faults
have since been rectified, adding that the
Dhruv Mk III, with its improved Shakti engine,
has resolved the two services' altitude requirement.
"Currently, most of the operational issues
have been addressed including deployment of
the ALH for glacier [in the Himalayas], which
is a big success story in itself.
Army is able to easily maintain its forces
at glacier covering all aspects only because
of ALH," Murli said.
"All technical issues of engine have been
addressed."
