Cybaru wrote:^^^
Thats a good peek on what they are thinking. I presume Indian Navy will end up getting its ASW copters from outside vendors for now if those sea hawks need retiring. This bird is still 6/7 years away and they are going straight for Mi17 replacements. That is 150/200 birds that need to be replaced.
I also think by the time IA/IAF give their requirements the engine will move to 2000/2100 kw range. The payload specs seem respectable and pragmatic, although they may a bit on the conservative side for the engine they want in system. They should be able to beat these numbers. Kudos to them to start the ball rolling on internal funds. Hope IA/IAF/IN/CG/BSF do the needful and believe in them and become a party to this effort.
Deejay, do you have any initial thoughts?
IMRH is good and it impressed all. The mock up was in the Indo US pavilion hangar. Had the walls surrounding the Mock up been lower it would have dominated the entire pavilion. Had a "dekho" up and close on 03 occasions.
Militarily, it opens an exciting future possibility in the medium lift heli section. HAL rotary wing division is surprising us every few months and IMRH came out of the blue to aero India. Glad that it did. IN and IA will grab the machine provided HAL can do the IN mods. IAF will lose out big time on helicopter roles if it sits back on the IMRH.
Personally, I would have liked 7kms as service ceiling more than the present 6.5kms. 3 tons of payload at sea level is not bad but for high altitude (North and East) of Leh it may not be enough (IMO). Do not get me wrong, I am only dropping my wishful thoughts and ideas here.
All the best to HAL. Now, that I have seen the mock up - really wish to see it fly.