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The Indian army at the Siachen Glacier will now get better resource to keep an eye on border as the Indian Air Force has granted 12 new light helicopters for deployment.

Earlier, a request for proposal (RFP) was sent to IAF to defence aerospace PSU HAL for buying 12 Cheetal helicopters, these helicopters will be now sued to carry out operations at high altitude areas in the northern region border.

Talking to media, an official from IAF said, “The Cheetal helicopters are an upgraded version of the Cheetahs with more powerful engines manufactured by HAL. The IAF has some of its squadrons of the Cheetah/Chetak choppers deployed in Leh and Thoise in Jammu and Kashmir for flying to provide air support to army troops deployed at and along the world’s highest battlefield there.”

The Cheetals helicopters were deployed in the northern border as there is delay in the buying of new Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs) for replacing the Cheetah/ or Chetak fleet of the IAF and the Army because of the unavailability of new helicopters.

In addition, the Indian Navy also asked for 56 choppers to reduce the usage of Cheetah/Chetak helicopters. The IAF has decided to include over 1000 choppers for different requirements over the next five to 10 years.