The Defence Ministry has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to domestic manufacturers for reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters for the Army Aviation Corps (AAC) and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The RFI states that “The Indian Army and Indian Air Force are holding Chetak and Cheetah helicopters. The Ministry of Defence intends to urgently replace the fleet of existing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters with suitable helicopters of modern design (hereinafter called Reconnaissance & Surveillance/ RSH Helicopters).”
This follows the decision by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in August to scrap the deal for 197 helicopters and go for a fresh contract under the ‘Make and Buy’ category of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). This is the third time the RFI has been reissued for the Light Utility Helicopters (LUH). The RFI, issued on October 31, has sought responses from interested Indian vendors by November 11.
The contract is open for both single and twin engine variants. The RFI has not stated the number of helicopters which the government intends to procure.
It said: “This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued with the aim of identifying probable Indian vendors (including an Indian company forming joint venture/establishing production arrangement with OEM) who can provide the helicopters followed by licensed production/indigenous manufacture in the country.” The initial batch of helicopters will come in flyaway condition from the OEM, while the remaining will be built in India by an Indian partner through transfer of technology.
This approach is in line with the Modi government’s policy of indigenously developing military hardware and reduce dependency on imports.
