Coast Guard inducts three ALH MK-III helicopters

They have been developed with in-house customisations HAL

Marine version: The state-of-the-art Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Mk-III being inducted into the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard on Saturday inducted the first three of 16 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Mk-III designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

“The ALH Mk-III marine version has been designed and developed with in-house customisation of 19 additional equipment by HAL to meet Coast Guard requirements,” a Coast Guard statement said.

“The HAL will supply 16 ALH Mk-III to the ICG by mid next year,” it stated.

On induction, the 16 ALH Mk-III will be positioned at four Coast Guard squadrons at Bhubaneshwar, Porbandar, Kochi and Chennai.

The Navy inducted the first batch of three ALH MK-III helicopters into service at INS Hansa in April. Early this week, the Navy inducted three ALH MK-III at INS Dega in Visakhapatnam.