The Defence Ministry on Friday said that the Indian Army is all set to retire the ageing Cheetah and Cheetah helicopters and replace them with modern light helicopters. The ministry has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 200 modern reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters, out of which 120 will be in service with the Army and Air Force. The RFI is being used to identify potential suppliers along with technical requirements, including Indian companies partnering with original equipment manufacturers. This is in line with the objective of promoting indigenous defence manufacturing under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.

The new helicopters will be capable of performing reconnaissance, search, rescue and surveillance missions both day and night. They will be capable of carrying out special operations with small troop groups and rapid reaction teams, assisting in ground operations, and coordinating reconnaissance with attack helicopters.

In a report presented in Parliament in March this year, the Ministry of Defence had said that the Indian Air Force is indigenously producing fighter aircraft, transports, helicopters, training aircraft, air-to-air, air-to-ground and surface-to-air guided weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles and radars. At the time, the Air Force had also drawn up plans to induct more utility helicopters.

The Cabinet Committee on Security had earlier approved the purchase of 156 light combat helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Army and the Air Force at a cost of over Rs 45,000 crore.