Hindstan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has asked the IAF to consider upgrading its entire fleet of over 300 Chetak helicopters to the Chetan variant. But Air Headquarters has decided to wait until January 2006 till the refurbished chopper has completed a cycle of high-altitude tests in Leh.Highly placed sources looking into acquisition at Air HQ told Express that the IAF was not fully convinced that the upgradation would make the Chetak reliably capable of missions at Siachen and Kargil.In the documentation HAL sent to IAF recommending the upgradation in February, it has pre-empted these concerns with comprehensive figures indicating the Chetan is well ahead of the Chetak on all parameters, but Air HQ has decided to play cautious.Tight-lipped on what specifically the IAF was concerned about, the Air HQ official said: ‘‘There are some concerns on how the new engine, weight reduction and equipment on the upgraded Chetak have not been met with suitable changes to the airframe. These are routine issues which should get cleared by the flight tests.’’But HAL chairman Ashok Baweja stood his ground: ‘‘It is a more powerful helicopter, and has a better engine. The Chetan will be capable of doing what Cheetah and Cheetal cannot since they are smaller.’’A Bangalore-based IAF officer at Training Command said: ‘‘I would not call these serious concerns, but when one is talking of high-altitudes, you have to be completely sure before you upgrade.’’At the heart of the Chetak-to-Chetan upgrade is the replacement of Chetak’s Artouste-IIIB engine with a TM-BBB-2B2, a downgraded version of the 2M2 used on the home-grown ALH Dhruv. It is learnt, but not confirmed, that the IAF is also concerned about HAL’s decision to downgrade the engine to save costs on re-engineering the gearbox. The Chetaks, of French origin, have 10-15 years left. The Chetan is 90 kg lighter than it, with several components either made lighter or dispensed with.
