Chetak Multipurpose Helicopter
The Helicopter Division manufactures the versatile and Multipurpose Chetak Helicopters for Civil and Military applications both for Domestic and International customers. The Chetak Helicopter is a multi-role, seven seater Helicopter, spacious and simple in design, the Chetak is highly maneuverable and well suited to flying over sea, tropical and desert conditions.
The Chetak (SE 316 Alouette III) helicopter is a single engine turbine driven helicopter. It is a high performance all purpose all weather aircraft. It is an improved version of Alouette III and was awarded civil airworthiness certificate in 12 Dec 1961. It was originally manufactured in France. They are overhauled in India by M/s HAL Ltd. at their Bangalore division.The Chetak features a single lifting rotor and antitorque tail rotor powered by a turbine engine. It can carry seven passengers including the pilots. It can be used for transportation of passengers casualty/evacuation, rescue, cargo carrying, reconnaissance weapon carrying and can land and take off snow or water with appropriate equipment installed.
The Chopper can be effectively deployed for a variety of civil and military roles that include communication, rescue, aerial survey, cargo and passenger transport and combat. Armed with missiles and torpedoes, it also caters to the exacting requirements of anti submarine and anti tank warfare. The automatic starting system gives the Chetak an uncommon instant start capability cutting down the time from start to take off to less than a minute. With an all up weight of 2200 kg it can cruise at 1 85 kmph covering a range of 500 km and has endurance of 3.40 hours.
Over 250 Cheetahs were built under license at HAL until the late 1980s for the IAF. In 1986, however, the Government of India formally constituted the Army's Aviation Corps and most Chetak and Cheetahs were transferred from the Air Force on 1st November 1986. The Air Force continues to fly armed Chetaks in the anti-tank role as well as for casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and general duties while the lighter Cheetah is operated for Forward Area Control (FAC) flights.
Artouste III B Engine powers both Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. The engine manufacture commenced in 1962 under licence from Turbomeca, France. The engine has side air intake, one axial and one centrifugal compressor connected to a three stage turbine. The power output is 550 SHP at 33500 RPM. The reduction gear box in the front transfers the power to helicopter. More than 665 engines have been manufactured and 2950 engines overhauled & repaired for various customers. Main Characteristics Maximum diameter (m) 0.50 Length (m) 1.815 Weight (kg) 182 Power 550 Specific fuel consumption (kg / shp-hr) 0.346
As of 2005, the HAL Chetak was scheduled to be replaced by the Dhruv ALH. As an alternative, the Chetak could be re-engined with the Turbomeca TM 333-2B engine. The Chetak was originally powered by Turbomeca's Artouste IIIB engine. The first test flight of the upgraded Chetak, dubbed "Chetan", was carried out in February 2005. According to Turbomeca, a minimum of 200 Chetak helicopters could be upgraded. A similar option exists to re-engine the HAL Cheetah to the Cheetal variant using the TM 333-2B engine as well.
| Basic Data | |
| Empty Weight | 1230 kg |
| Total AUW | 970 kg |
| Rate of firing | 11.020 meters |
| Max. range (Gun) |
12.897 meters |
| Max. range (Rockets) |
2.602 meters |
| Performance | |
| Max. speed | 210 kmph |
| Service Ceiling | 5400 m |
| Range | 290 km |
| Endurance | 2 hrs 30 min |
| Rate of climb (SL) | 5.5 m/sec |
