No more Apache? One if the finest Attack helicopter ever produced, IA/IAF needs to think about inducting more Apache. Sikkim, ladakh, Arunachal, Assam & chicken neck along with panjab & Rajasthan needs much attention, Adding more Apaches will give much needed defense for these areas.
Yep other only 6 for IA will not even be a joke.
Boeing were pressing for additional p8i offer that's going to expire next month I think.
Something on cards with USA soon.
LCH is made for high altitude, better than Apaches there.
Need to order more LCH, and focus in its avionics & armament s.
Regarding P8I, the plan was to make all 4 airfields in A&N compatible to fly P8I/C130J type aircrafts. While Port Blair now can , work is going on for one more base. 2 are kind of stuck. But anyways in long term, Navy wants a detachment at A&N.
Further south , Mauritius and Reunion are both getting ready to support P8I missions.
In the west Oman is working to be able to support P8I if requirement arises.
So more P8Is are definitely required if we want IN to be the net security provider in IOR.
In my opinion atleast 6 more should be ordered. And in the meanwhile we can start working on conversion of A320 platform for maritime patrol with locally or co-developed systems.
The fleet part is just my opinion, while the bases are what we intend to happen.
Key is crew protection, situational awareness & weapons. LCH is definitely lags in weaponry, crew protection i dont know which one is better & when comes to situational awareness, the longbow radar itself will tell everything. We need both, but Apache needs to be inducted in large numbers, just like how we did with MKI.
Dedicated infrastructure is planned/underway for Army Aviation Apache fleet in NE. So a minimum of 20 in total will be bought.
I read discussion somewhere at high altitude, Apache cannot lift half of it's payload capabilities.