Army Aviation Corps (India)
The Army Aviation Corps is a component of the Indian Army which was formed on 1 November 1986. The corps is headed by a director general (with the rank of lieutenant general) at army headquarters in New Delhi. History. In 1984, the Indian Army's Northern Command inducted the HAL Cheetah during the Siachen Glacier conflict. Two years later, the Indian Air Force's Air Observation Post units were transferred to the Indian Army to form its Army Aviation Corps. With nine helicopter squadrons, the corps supported ground units by carrying men and material to the  Siachen Glacier until the 2003 ceasefire. During the late-1980s Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War, the corps experienced jungle warfare. A unit of the Army Aviation Corps operated in Somalia as part of United Nations Operation in Somalia II from October 1993 to November 1994. During the operation, the corps flew over 2,000 hours accident-free with 100-percent serviceability in desert-like conditions. It also participated in the 1999 Kargil War. Present day. Role. Army Aviation Corps pilots are drawn from other combat arms, including artillery officers. The Indian Air Force flies attack helicopters such as the  Mil Mi-25/Mi-35 and HAL Rudra, which are under the operational control of the army. Helicopters such as the HAL Chetak, HAL Cheetah and HAL Dhruv provide logistical support for the Indian Army in remote and inaccessible areas. The Army Aviation Corps also perform combat search and rescue (CSAR), artillery lift, combat transportation, logistics relief, military prisoner transportation and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) in wartime and during natural disasters. The director general of the Army Aviation Corps is Lt Gen A.K. Suri. Training. Army Aviation Corps candidates are trained at the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) in Nashik; training was  previously conducted at the School of Artillery in Deolali. A Cheetah helicopter simulator was installed at CATS to reduce training costs and pilot risk. The simulator exposes trainees to snow, rain, varied terrain, night flying, emergencies, and tactical maneuvers. Squadrons. The Army Aviation Corps has several squadrons. Among them are: In addition, there are several Reconnaissance and Observation (R&O) flights that operate independently and are not attached to any squadrons. Plans. In 2012, the army was evaluating helicopters from Kamov, Eurocopter and AgustaWestland for its light-helicopter contract for supplying troops stationed at high altitudes. The $750 million contract  for the 197 helicopters intended to replace its 1970s Chetak and Cheetah helicopters for high-altitude surveillance and logistics. The successful bidder would provide 60 helicopters in operating condition; the remaining 137 aircraft would be produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The successful bidder was required to invest at least 30 percent of the contract in India. In December 2014, the Kamov Ka-226T was selected as a light utility helicopter to replace the Chetak and Cheetah while the HAL Light Utility Helicopter was developed. Kamov would build a production plant in India, and 197 helicopters would be purchased under  the Make in India program. Of these 135 are earmarked for the Indian Army. However the deal was later dead by 2021. The Army was looking at indegenous HAL Light Utility Helicopter and later placed order for it under limited series production. Other planned acquisitions are: