Apache and Chinook to make Republic Day Debut
Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy lift helicopters, which were recently inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF), will make their debut over Rajpath during the Republic Day fly past on January 26. In all, Republic Day 2020 fly past comprises of 41 aircraft of IAF and four helicopters of the Indian Army Aviation. These include 16 fighters, 10 transport aircraft and 19 helicopters. The aircraft and helicopters will fly 60-300 metres above ground level.
India has contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015 under a $3 billion deal. So far, 17 Apache and 10 Chinook helicopters have been delivered. The government has also cleared the acquisition of six additional Apaches for the Army.
About the helicopters
The Chinook is a multi-role, vertical-lift platform, which is used for transport of troops, artillery, equipment and fuel. It is also used for humanitarian and disaster-relief operations, in missions such as transportation of relief supplies and mass evacuation of refugees. The CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of modern-day Washington State.
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30 mm (1.18 in) M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft’s forward fuselage, and four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons for carrying armament and stores, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has significant systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.
SOURCE: The Hindu
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