India develops Indigenous Light Combat Helicopter and buying Russian Kamov-226T that can operate at extremely high altitudes

During the 1999 Kargil War, operations of Indian Air Force to evict the intruding Pakistani soldiers from the Indian side of the border,  were hampered as the only combat helicopter, the Mi-35, couldn’t operate at extremely high altitudes. IAF had to tell the Army that it had no helicopters that could take on the Pakistani positions at Batalik, Dras or other heights, and finally, it was decided to deploy Mirage jets to attack the entrenched Pakistanis.

As per reports, the armed forces are looking to induct as many as 1200 plus helicopters in the coming decade ranging from attack and high altitude reconnaissance to medium and heavy lift variants. Presently, the Indian military holds in its kitty approximately 600 helicopters of all types and class including specialized ones, but majority of these have far exceeded their life span and are either obsolete or nearing obsolescence – the largest component of this is the Chetak/Cheetah fleet.