What are the reasons that prevent India from manufacturing Apache in its territory

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The AH-1Z was developed back in the 60s to complement the Huey helicopters during the Vietnam war. It was also based on the Bell 204 and 205 helicopter. The AH-1Z is in service with the USMC. It is considered a heavy attack helicopter that has provided an excellent service to the USMC and also the earlier version which many nations have adopted.

The Apache is a huge investment. As mentioned earlier, to manufacturer with higher local content will mean a large order. That justify the cost. The Apache have seen continuous upgrades due to battlefield experience during the Vietnam War, the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan. The toughest is Afghanistan which has demonstrated the Apache’s extreme limit of operations and combat capabilities.

India was confident enough to buy Apache over the Mi-28 Havoc. It was unfortunate for the Russians as India has faced support issues from the central arms purchasing company which can’t be mentioned here but as everyone knows, India is not the only country having issues to get parts from Russia. That shot the change for the Havoc to win even though it was better in some ways to the AH-64E Apache as demonstrated by the Swedish in the evaluation sometimes ago. The LCH development is based on what India has studied and learnt on combat operations of the Apache which is translated into improvements to the LCH.

The European Tigre is a French/German partnership to produce a light combat helicopter. It one of the most advance helicopter in the world, easy to maintain and very reliable. The Tigre was the preferred helicopter for the Australians over the more expensive and maintenance intensive Apache

have admired India in building their own attack helicopter but they are moving on a cautious approach due to pitfalls and the large investment requirement to go into such a project. India is new to many of the aerospace technologies it has invested. From Tejas to the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH).

The LCH is a very good start. It was designed and manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as part of the project to develop an Indian multirole combat helicopter. The LCH is ordered for both the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army and also intended to be an export income earner with clearance by the Indian government to sell to prospective customers.

The HAL LCH is a fantastic start to the Indian Attack Helicopter requirements. A nice looking and clean helicopter. The ingenuity of the design is fantastic. I am really looking forward to see this helicopter full operational and i hope it would gain a great export success. The West are not the only one who can build a combat helicopter!

The LCH is a good start to a more grand program of building the latest attack helicopters. With India’s recent purchase of the AH-64 Apache as the heavy weight attack helicopter as it was urgently required to complement legacy helicopters such as the Mi-24 Hind and armed Mi-17 which had performed well in Indian armed forces.

The LCH is a long term project. It will complement the AH-64 Apache and will become the most numerous in the Indian armed forces. The choice not to manufacturer the AH-64E Apache was due to the small numbers as the investment required outweigh the cost of each Apache. 22 units when to the air force and 6 was approved for the Indian army. A manufacturing opportunity could be had if India bought in larger numbers to exercise the economy of scale.

The South African Rooivalk Mk2 is one of the best helicopter in the world. Unfortunately only South Africa is the user. Malaysia at one time almost ordered the Rooivalk but somehow the Malaysian decision was refocused on there issues. The Rooivalk was based on the several of intensive experience in South Africa bush wars. Its a large helicopter, on similar size to the AH-64 and Mi-28!

This is the future of India’s most advance battlefield attack helicopter. This light weight menacing machine is a result of India’s determination to be self sufficient in weapons. This LCH is a product of that policy.

I am very confident that the Indian Aerospace Industries and the Indian Armed Forces would in one day have a combat capable helicopter that could be as good as today’s AH-64 Apache and even the Russian Mil Mi-28 Havoc. Once the Indians have mastered the technology and operations experience, i am confident they will be there among the major powers on the same level among the world's best. Just need to give HAL and the Indian Air Force time to learn, adopt and adapt..HAL could basically convert the LCH into something a lot heavier in the near future. We will never know!