Image credit: The Economic Times

On the 26th of March, the I.A.F. (Indian Air Force) received the delivery of four out of fifteen Chinooks from Boeing, a US company.

Basically, the Chinooks are made for lifting troops, heavy army artilleries, ammunition, etc as well as also used in disaster management purposes.

The I.A.F chief Birender Singh Danona in his statement has referred it as a game changer in country's defence.

On the agreement of $1.5 billion, the first delivery (of 4) was received in the Chandigarh airbase which is nearer to the Indo-pak border.


Image credit: Deccan Chronicle

The Second group of rest helicopters would be appointed in Assam which is nearer to the Indo-china border.

Chinooks have replaced the Russian Mi-26 in IAF. Ther are fundamentally tandem rotor helicopter and that's the feature which makes it odd than the rest. Two rotors make it possible to lift load up to 22,500 kgs.

Assembled by AgustaWestland, they have the Capability to operate in any extreme weather conditions.

They can lift heavy loads to very far locations and over most of the rough terrains like the Himalayas, Thar desert, etc. They can land too on small surfaces just by touching two wheels.

The helicopter has 4,868 shaft horsepower Honeywell engines and has lower maintenance costs. It's designed in such a way that it does not need to be inspected & repaired often.

It gives fewer vibrations than any other army helicopters. They are capable to fly at the speed of 282 km/hr and weighs almost 9.5 tons.

They have a BAE Systems' Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS) and Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit.


Image credit: Reddit