In a major blow to Indian defense export dreams, Ecuador has unilaterally canceled the Dhruv helicopter contract with Hindustan Aeronaut...
In a major blow to Indian defense export dreams, Ecuador has unilaterally canceled the Dhruv helicopter contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
The decision comes after the type was involved in multiple crashes since entry into service in 2009. Seven of the four HAL built Dhruv multi role helicopters supplied to Ecuador Air Force from 2009-12 had crashed, two of which were attributed to mechanical failures.
Announcing the decision on Wednesday, Ecuador Defense Minister Fernando Cordero said the remaining fleet of three Dhruv helicopters has been grounded and will not be flown indefinitely.
HAL won the $45 million dollar deal in 2008, which was the first major defense export success for the Indian aerospace industry beating offers from Russian helicopters, Airbus Helicopters and Israeli Elbit systems.
The first crash of the type, occurred within months of maiden delivery in 2009, when one of the helicopter, part of a three helicopter formation, slammed into the ground during a flypast. The non fatal crash which proved the crash worthy design, was later found to be due to a pilot error.
In Feb 2014, a VVIP customized Dhruv used for Presidential transport crashed, killing 3 of the 4 on board. The other two crashes occurred in January 2015.
The 5.5 tonne Dhruv Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) entered Indian service in 2002 and more than 150 are operated by Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and state governments. It has been also exported to Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives.
The Dhruv fleet has since then clocked more than 100,000 flight hours.
The multi-role, multi-mission twin engined Dhruv is an all weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at heights of 10,000 feet.
The advanced technology features incorporated in the design of Dhruv include hinge-less main rotor and bearing-less tail rotor, integrated dynamic system encompassing main gear box and upper controls in a single housing, higher powered Shakti/Turbomeca Ardiden 1H engines, integrated architecture display system (glass cockpit), duplex automatic flight control system, redundancy with twin-engine, dual hydraulics and controls, 30 minute dry- run capability of gear boxes, crashworthy bottom structure, landing gear, crew seat and fuel tanks with self-sealing capability, extensive use of composite material on fuselage and rotor system, integration of role and optional equipments such as rescue hoist, stretchers and cargo-hook.
