PHOTOS

IAF Cheetah helicopter, lifeline for troops deployed in the Siachen Glacier: IN PICS

The Indian Air Force is one of the most competent and powerful forces in the world with advanced planes and helicopters. One of such helicopter is Cheetah, which has been serving the Indian Air Force and also the Indian Army for long now and serves a very important purpose. Despite being too small for any troop movement, the IAF Cheetah is a lifeline for troops deployed in the Siachen glacier, world's highest battleground. With a low basic weight and a configuration tailor-made for high altitude operations, the Cheetah land with ease at altitudes beyond the flight envelope of most other helicopters. Here's a spectacular image gallery of the IAF Cheetah. (Image courtesy Neel385/ Twitter.)

Arjit Garg|

Updated:May 17, 2022, 05:10 PM IST

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The IAF Cheetah is a five-seater versatile, multi-role helicopter which is highly manoeuvrable and rugged in construction. The chopper holds the world record in high altitude flying among all categories of Helicopters.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The helicopter is suitable for commuting, observation, surveillance, logistics support, rescue operations and high altitude missions and IAF has mostly deployed the chopper in the hilly terrains of Jammu and Kashmir and it serves as an essential lifeline for high altitude troops.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The IAF Cheetah is made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and till date, HAL has produced and sold more than 275 of these versatile Helicopters which are in service both in India and abroad.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The Cheetah Helicopter (identical to LAMA SA 315B Helicopter of Eurocopter, France) is powered by Artouste - III B turbo shaft engine and and is made under the license agreement with M/s SNIAS, signed by HAL in 1970.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The IAF Cheetah Helicopter is 12.91 metre in length, 2.38 metre in width, 3.09 metre in height. It has a seating capacity of 5 people, two pilots and three passengers.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter

The IAF Cheetah Helicopter has a Maximum tow weight of 1950 kg, can cruise at a speed of 192 Km/h with a range of 560 km and can fly upto 3.10 hour in one go.

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IAF Cheetah Helicopter