ALH-Dhruv, Tejas Jets To Skip Republic Day Flypast, Details Inside

New Delhi: The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) will not feature in the the upcoming Republic Day flypast as the entire fleet of military choppers has been grounded following a crash of one of them this month.

The Army, the Indian Air Force, the Navy, and the Coast Guard are operating around 330 ALHs.

A Coast Guard ALH crashed in Porbandar on January 5, following which the armed forces grounded the entire fleet of the twin-engine choppers.

Dhruv Helicopters, Tejas Not To Take Part in R-Day Flypast 

The ALH Dhruv will not be part of the Republic Day flypast over Kartavya Path on January 26, an IAF official told reporters.

The choppers are likely to remain grounded till a high-level probe panel finds the root cause of the crash that killed two Coast Guard pilots and an aircrew diver.

The helicopters have been part of the Republic Day flypasts for nearly one-and-half decades.

The ALH-Dhruv, produced by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 ton weight class.

The official cited above also said that locally developed single engine Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will also not feature at the Republic Day flypast.

The IAF has stopped flying single engine aircraft at the R-Day parade.

List of Aircrafts To Feature in Flypast

• 22 Fighter jets, 
• 11 Transport planes
• 7 helicopters
• 3 Dornier surveillance aircraft.
• Rafale fighter jet 

The IAF's marching contingent at the parade will comprise 144 personnel, the official added. 

(With inputs from PTI)