Indian Army Plans To Hire Civil Helicopters For Troop Transport And Logistics In J&K, Ladakh

The Indian Army is reportedly planning to hire helicopters from civilian agencies for logistics supplies, troop transportation to forward locations, and casualty evacuation along the country's northern borders.

Bids have been invited from potential service providers, seeking details of helicopters available for the purpose, including their rate per flying hour and additional flying hours, Indian Express reported.

The Army intends to deploy these single-engine helicopters in key sectors of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh, including Drass, Kargil, Batalik, Doda, Kishtwar, and Gurez. 

The helicopters will be primarily used from November to April to support winter logistics, such as stocking rations, fuel, and other supplies, and for operational purposes.

The helicopters are expected to temporarily replace the Army's aging Chetak and Cheetah fleet, which faces serviceability challenges after their extended years of service. Many of these helicopters will reach the end of their technical life in the next three years.

The Army plans to eventually replace them with indigenous light utility helicopters.

The hiring will also offer larger maintenance time for the Army’s helicopters which will continue to be used for operational duties.

According to the IE report, an official said this move is another initiative which will ease stocking and assist in quick de-induction of soldiers from high altitude areas.

It will also help soldiers going on emergency leave to come down from the higher reaches.

“The strain on service aircraft and pilots will be reduced, permitting them to focus on operational tasks and winter air surveillance sorties. It will also ease the maintenance schedules of the Army helicopters as their flying hours will comparatively go down,” the official was quoted as saying by IE.

Officials further stated that the selected service provider or civil agency must supply fully operational helicopters, experienced pilots, crew members, and maintenance personnel capable of handling high-altitude flying operations.

In the future, the Armed Forces further plan to increasingly move towards outsourcing major platforms and equipment instead of buying them, thus saving on capital expenditure.

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