Army and Air Force versions of ALH Dhruv cleared for operations: HAL

An ALH Dhruv helicopter flying near Baisaran valley. The ALH choppers were pressed into operations after the attack in Pahalgam by militants killed 26 tourists.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Army and the Air Force versions of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, which have been grounded since January, have been cleared for operations.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is the manufacturer of the Dhruv helicopter, on Thursday said that based on the Defect Investigation (DI) Committee recommendations the Army and Air Force versions of the helicopter are cleared for operations.

“It is now intimated that the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv Army and Air Force versions are cleared for operations based on the Defect Investigation (DI) Committee recommendations,” the defence PSU said in a statement.

It further added that a time-bound plan for the resumption of operations has been worked out with the users.

The armed forces had temporarily grounded all their 330 ALHs following the January 5 crash of the Indian Coast Guard’s ALH Mark-III in Porbandar, Gujarat during a training sortie that killed all three crew members onboard. the helicopter.

Besides, the HAL had also advised civilian operators to ground the helicopter till the cause of the crash is identified.

The ALH Dhruv was also missing in action at the Aero India 2025. The Indian Air Force’s Sarang Helicopter Display Team, which has displayed their formation aerobatics skills in the show for the last two decades, did not participate this time due to the grounding of the ALH Dhruv helicopter.

Following the grounding of the indigenous helicopter, the armed forces had been facing a shortage of helicopters and their military operations were affected.

However, last week in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Army version of the ALH had resumed flying in the Anantnag area of Jammu and Kashmir.