Adani Defence Expresses Interest in India's Naval Helicopter Program

Adani Defence & Aerospace has joined the race to fulfill the Indian Navy's Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) requirements, a move that could reshape the country's defence industry landscape.

Adani Defence CEO, Ashish Rajvanshi, confirmed the company's interest in the long-delayed program, opening avenues for both rivalry and collaboration with other key players.

The Indian Ministry of Defence aims to procure approximately 111 Naval Utility Helicopters through a strategic partnership between an Indian company and a foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

This partnership, guided by the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016, emphasizes technology transfer, domestic manufacturing, and the integration of advanced equipment.

The Indian Navy is also exploring ship-based versions of the indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Light Utility Helicopters (LUH).

This parallel focus highlights a potential path for Adani Defence to collaborate with existing programs such as HAL's Dhruv helicopter.

While the NUH program's trajectory remains in question, Adani Defence's entry indicates changing dynamics within the industry.

The company's potential to win the contract or form strategic partnerships could have a significant impact on the timely fulfilment of the Indian Navy's critical helicopter requirements.

Conclusion​

Adani Defence's interest in the NUH program adds an intriguing new dimension to India's defence industry.

The outcome, whether through direct competition or cooperative ventures, has the potential to reshape the nation's naval aviation capabilities.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Great news. These super large companies can take initiative to taje part in developing these large and super complex system. They ha e the financial muscle to deal with initial setbacks and deal with the bureaucracy.

Tata, adani, mahindra, reliance etc have potential to completely revamp defence manufacturing in coming decade. The monopoly of defence PSUs has already been broken when it comes to land systems. L&T has broken it for naval system. Only air sector is left.

I am nkt against existance of DPSUs. But rather their monopoly. China and russia alao have super large DPSUs, but they have competition amongst them, which forces them to innovate and be efficient. Indian defence sector was lacking this competition

 

[Anant]

Why on Earth does the Navy need 111 Naval Utility helicopters? We already have a bunch of Dhruv and Chetak helicopters fulfilling that role, and the IMRH / DBMRH can take over the role from them later on.

To put that number in perspective, the Grand total helicopter capacity, of all types across every single ship in commission with the Indian Navy today, is 103 helicopters. Take the Coast Guard as well, and you get an additional 25 helicopters in numbers. Now, of course a lot of these helicopters fulfill different roles. However, that does put the 111 number in context.

Why exactky does the Navy want so many choppers? Practically no Navy in the world operates so many helicopters that aren't deployed on ships. Moreover, if the NUH program is delayed, that means the DBMRH program is still on, which would mean these choppers are intended for shore use.

Absolutely not! The Navy can and should use these funds in better places. If one needs a shore-based chopper, there are variants of the ALH and/or the IMRH that can do the job.

 

[Mango_Indian]

ADANI did not want to take over AIR INDIA like TATA. It does not want to set up a grounds-up shipyard to manufacture ships like L&T.

It only wants free airport licenses, re-development of Dharavi, Joint ventures with foreign Arms principals to assemble and supply foreign maal at high prices, no SEBI probe on stock price manipulation as SEBI Chairman is relative - the list goes on.

I really applaud Indians for their ability - no their blood, to tolerate thieves and aid in the thievery. Must be a reason why the British were able to loot them for 200 years by Divide and Rule principle.

 

[Amit Ray]

ADANI did not want to take over AIR INDIA like TATA. It does not want to set up a grounds-up shipyard to manufacture ships like L&T.

It only wants free airport licenses, re-development of Dharavi, Joint ventures with foreign Arms principals to assemble and supply foreign maal at high prices, no SEBI probe on stock price manipulation as SEBI Chairman is relative - the list goes on.

I really applaud Indians for their ability - no their blood, to tolerate thieves and aid in the thievery. Must be a reason why the British were able to loot them for 200 years by Divide and Rule principle.

You are a curse to the society, you spread false narratives, peddle in lies. If Supreme Court or SEBI or any other agencies can't find anything, you badmouth them. No it's not the British but the invaders started coming since the 6th century and people like you helped them establish their roots, to tell the truth and to be fair the British liberated us from the Moghal invaders and their kins who were ruling almost entire India.

 

[Amit Ray]

The monopoly of DPSU is coming to an end. Hats of PM and his policy.

 

[Pink Panther]

Why on Earth does the Navy need 111 Naval Utility helicopters? We already have a bunch of Dhruv and Chetak helicopters fulfilling that role, and the IMRH / DBMRH can take over the role from them later on.

Navy hates Naval Dhruv, no need of mentioning LUH, they don’t even want to spell it’s name , it is untouchable, so it will most probably be Athmanirbhar screwdrivering of one of these foreign helicopters S-70 OR AS565 MBE OR Augustawestland Super Lynx 300.

 

[Frank]

Now ALH and LUH is also gone...

Man we already have LUH just convert it to Nuh...

But no navy needs to make 56 Hijra and his friend screw driver king Adani happy...

Absolute banana republic

 

[Instant Karma]

Why Adani is so much interested to develope the NUH? HAL has already developed the NUH. Does Adani wants to end all Indegenous manufacturing capabilities by manufacturing foreign equipment's under license from OEM's? If Adani will resort to such things, then even after 75 years of independence, we Indian will not have anything to be proud of as our Indian products. France is proud of Rafale and Airbus, USA is proud of Boeing Lockheed's Martin etc, Russian are proud of sukhoi and mig, China is proud of j 10, j 35.

It seems that Adani is hellbent on taking India to the list of countries who don't have anything of their to be proud of.

This is being done by TATA also.

 

[Instant Karma]

I really applaud Indians for their ability - no their blood, to tolerate thieves and aid in the thievery. Must be a reason why the British were able to loot them for 200 years by Divide and Rule principle.

Gajju are mainly responsible.

 

[Satya Dev]

You are a curse to the society, you spread false narratives, peddle in lies. If Supreme Court or SEBI or any other agencies can't find anything, you badmouth them. No it's not the British but the invaders started coming since the 6th century and people like you helped them establish their roots, to tell the truth and to be fair the British liberated us from the Moghal invaders and their kins who were ruling almost entire India.

The British liberated us from Mongol invaders - really? So the Marathas, the Sikhs, Rani Lakshmibai who fought the British East India Company were Mongols?

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

ADANI did not want to take over AIR INDIA like TATA. It does not want to set up a grounds-up shipyard to manufacture ships like L&T.

It only wants free airport licenses, re-development of Dharavi, Joint ventures with foreign Arms principals to assemble and supply foreign maal at high prices, no SEBI probe on stock price manipulation as SEBI Chairman is relative - the list goes on.

Dude, you have hatred for adani for no reason. Let me give rebuttal point by point.
TATA had started air India. Generations of Tatas have had fascination with flying. Ratan tata is an accomplished pilot. That is why TATA bid for Air India and their bid was accepted by government.

L&T has been the premier heavy engineering firm in the country. It was established way back in 1940s and 50s. In these businesses expertise needs to be built over long time.

Regarding airports, adani has been in the shipping port business for very long. It operates the best ports in the country. And, it has built this expertise itself.
Going into airports is natural, as it shares many aspects with sea ports. Also, it has participated in open and transparent tender process for these operating license.
Do you know that Adani has spent over 1billion dollars to build Navi mumbai airport and it is struggling to attract airplane companis like air india to operate from navi mumbai airport. Because there are no proper road or rail connectivity yet. Which company would have taken risk of investing over a billion dollars in such a project.

Regarding dharavi project, that has been in limbo for decades. No company had balls to do it. And adani has won the contract through a trnasparent bidding process. Because of people like you, this project will get cancelled as well.

 

[Baiju Bhaskaran]

What we need now is results. As per the world political scenario today, really something big may happen in the next five years and we have to be prepared for that. We need huge quantities of Aircrafts, helicopters,tanks,ships,UAV,s etc. Cannot only depend on DPSU's.

 

[Satya Dev]

It only wants free airport licenses, re-development of Dharavi, Joint ventures with foreign Arms principals to assemble and supply foreign maal at high prices, no SEBI probe on stock price manipulation as SEBI Chairman is relative - the list goes on.

The problem is - who will say no to Amb@nis & Ad@nis?
At one time Reli@nce was known as ch0r company, so they bought TV channels & are spending heavily on image makeover. Even Ad@nis have taken over r@NDTV.

 

[Satya Dev]

What we need now is results. As per the world political scenario today, really something big may happen in the next five years and we have to be prepared for that. We need huge quantities of Aircrafts, helicopters,tanks,ships,UAV,s etc. Cannot only depend on DPSU's.

You are absolutely right - there will be a big war in coming 5 years. But does that justify allowing private sector to exploit us by charging exorbitant costs by merely screwdriver assembly of imported CKD kits of weapon platforms & radars in the name of ATMANIRBHARTA? Can the MoD not check the price quoted by the screwdriver company against the landed cost of duly assembled weapon platform imported from the OEM?

 

[Akshat]

Why Adani is so much interested to develope the NUH? HAL has already developed the NUH.

Oh yeah…HAL has already developed NUH. When was its first flight by the way?

 

[Akshat]

To put that number in perspective, the Grand total helicopter capacity, of all types across every single ship in commission with the Indian Navy today, is 103 helicopters. Take the Coast Guard as well, and you get an additional 25 helicopters in numbers. Now, of course a lot of these helicopters fulfill different roles. However, that does put the 111 number in context.

There are many uses for helicopters. Not sure where you got the 103 number. IN right now has some 120 helicopters. And it has nearly 150 ships, almost all of which can carry helicopters. Some carry 1, some 2, some 6, some 12. And the numbers are only set to go up. Not to mention, many of these helicopters are used for shore based operations as well. I’m f you calculate helicopter per ship, I am sure many navies will be far far ahead of India right now. So 111, if anything, is too small a number.

 

[Akshat]

You are absolutely right - there will be a big war in coming 5 years. But does that justify allowing private sector to exploit us by charging exorbitant costs by merely screwdriver assembly of imported CKD kits of weapon platforms & radars in the name of ATMANIRBHARTA? Can the MoD not check the price quoted by the screwdriver company against the landed cost of duly assembled weapon platform imported from the OEM?

Yeah yeah…it surely justifies 22% profit margin of HAL. It also justifies purchasing Tejas at a higher price as compared to Su30 mki made in India. But the private sector is the problem. They should make products and sell them with money from their own pockets.

 

[Akshat]

It only wants free airport licenses, re-development of Dharavi, Joint ventures with foreign Arms principals to assemble and supply foreign maal at high prices, no SEBI probe on stock price manipulation as SEBI Chairman is relative - the list goes on.

Free airport licenses? He is paying more than anyone else in the world for those airports. Apart from 1 or 2 which he obtained via acquisitions, all the hose licenses came via open tenders where he outbid everyone else. Same for the Dharavi. And he has been investigated by CBI, SC, SEBI etc. No one has ever found one shred of evidence. I gen IS government audited him before funding for a foreign project and approved him. But yeah. He is corrupt because you say so.

 

[Amit Ray]

The British liberated us from Mongol invaders - really? So the Marathas, the Sikhs, Rani Lakshmibai who fought the British East India Company were Mongols?

Don't talk about pockets of resistance, there were numerous but overall the Moghuls were in control of most of what is India now. They were sitting on the throne at Delhi. And coming across people like you, they would be sitting still now had not the British arrived.

 

[Ajath]

Why on Earth does the Navy need 111 Naval Utility helicopters? We already have a bunch of Dhruv and Chetak helicopters fulfilling that role, and the IMRH / DBMRH can take over the role from them later on.

Indian Navy cannot wait for eternity to get their helicopters.

 

[Anant]

You are a curse to the society, you spread false narratives, peddle in lies. If Supreme Court or SEBI or any other agencies can't find anything, you badmouth them. No it's not the British but the invaders started coming since the 6th century and people like you helped them establish their roots, to tell the truth and to be fair the British liberated us from the Moghal invaders and their kins who were ruling almost entire India.

I humbly disagree. Among all foreign entities who ruled over India or parts of it over the centuries, the British were by far the worst.

The Mughals and the like invaded India, yes. However, they remained here in India, and while they engaged in a lot of shenanigans, they were invested in seeing India remain a strong economic and industrial nation.

The British, on the other hand, only saw India as a source of raw materials and riches. They never cared about Indians as long as we remained subservient, paid our taxes, and kept getting ourselves robbed. The British actively de-industrialised India, remember that.

 

[Anant]

There are many uses for helicopters. Not sure where you got the 103 number. IN right now has some 120 helicopters. And it has nearly 150 ships, almost all of which can carry helicopters. Some carry 1, some 2, some 6, some 12. And the numbers are only set to go up. Not to mention, many of these helicopters are used for shore based operations as well. I’m f you calculate helicopter per ship, I am sure many navies will be far far ahead of India right now. So 111, if anything, is too small a number.

The total standard shipborne helicopter capacity across all Indian Navy ships today is 103. That breakdown is as follows:

1. Carriers: 10 each across 2 carriers, so 20.
2. Amphibious assault ships: 6 on Jalashwa, and 1 each on the 4 LSTs, so 10 total.
3. Destroyers: 2 each on the Delhi-, Kolkata-, and Visakhapatnam-classes (so 18 so far), plus 1 each on the Rajputs, so 21 in total.
4. Frigates: 2 each on the Shivaliks and Brahmaputras, and 1 each on the Talwars, so 18 in total.
5. Corvettes: 1 each on the Kamorta-, Kora-, and Khukri-classes, so 10 in total.
6. OPVs: 1 each on the Saryu- and Sukanya-classes, so 10 total.
7. Survey ships: 1 each on both the 1980s Sandhayak-class and the modern Sandhayak-class, so 6 there.
8. Auxiliaries: 1 each on INS Tir, INS Aditya, INS Jyoti, and INS Dhruv, and 2 each on the Deepak-class, so 8 there.

Add those up, and you get 103.

Now, the Navy has about 120 helicopters, but a lot of them are used on shore stations. Moreover, a good number of those ~120 helicopters are fairly new. My only point is that with the Navy invested in the DBMRH program to replace most of the older utility helicopters (the oldest Dhruvs and the Cheetahs), why go for a foreign design now? It just seems like an ill-timed decision.

 

[Amit Ray]

I humbly disagree. Among all foreign entities who ruled over India or parts of it over the centuries, the British were by far the worst.

The Mughals and the like invaded India, yes. However, they remained here in India, and while they engaged in a lot of shenanigans, they were invested in seeing India remain a strong economic and industrial nation.

The British, on the other hand, only saw India as a source of raw materials and riches. They never cared about Indians as long as we remained subservient, paid our taxes, and kept getting ourselves robbed. The British actively de-industrialised India, remember that.

You keep your gyan to yourself. You have neither read history nor you are interested to know the facts. What the invaders did to us is beyond description, Mohd Ghori, Nadir Shah etc killed crores of people, converted people forcefully and those who refused perished. There is an untold saga which was under wraps for so long by the erstwhile govts ,but truth has a habit of coming out after ages . The luvkush mountains is a graveyard of one crore hindus, I don't want to go on and on, whether you acknowledge or not arguments won't change facts. And ofcourse the British swindled and robbed us but they hardly killed anybody except the freedom fighters and ofcourse in battle with different kings and queens. By the way whatever you see of India is done by the British, even the constitution was drafted with their help and was done in England itself.

 

[kumar]

No need of foreign oems. If Adani wants, then let them make ALH and LUH. Enough of this nonsense.

 

[Akshat]

Carriers: 10 each across 2 carriers, so 20.
Amphibious assault ships: 6 on Jalashwa, and 1 each on the 4 LSTs, so 10 total.
Destroyers: 2 each on the Delhi-, Kolkata-, and Visakhapatnam-classes (so 18 so far), plus 1 each on the Rajputs, so 21 in total.
Frigates: 2 each on the Shivaliks and Brahmaputras, and 1 each on the Talwars, so 18 in total.
Corvettes: 1 each on the Kamorta-, Kora-, and Khukri-classes, so 10 in total.
OPVs: 1 each on the Saryu- and Sukanya-classes, so 10 total.
Survey ships: 1 each on both the 1980s Sandhayak-class and the modern Sandhayak-class, so 6 there.
Auxiliaries: 1 each on INS Tir, INS Aditya, INS Jyoti, and INS Dhruv, and 2 each on the Deepak-class, so 8 there.

Significant errors in calculations. Our carriers can carry 12, or even more, choppers. Magar class has hangar for one chopper but deck and other facilities for 2 choppers.

Anyways, point is that this is not a new requirement and has been existing for a while. And not all the requirements can be fulfilled by the DBMRH. In fact, the original plan was actually a o keep HAL out of this tender and create an alternative helicopter manufacturer set up under strategic partner program. HAL had tried to make NUH for a long time and failed. But then HAL again b*tted in, and all private sector companies left because they know that when any DPSU is present, they can’t outbid them. HAL will quote rock bottom and win the tender and then increase the price later on like with Tejas. Right now Navy is actually working on NUH itself, made by HAL. Though I wish that wasn’t the case and someone else was given a chance.

 

[NSR]

Why on Earth does the Navy need 111 Naval Utility helicopters? We already have a bunch of Dhruv and Chetak helicopters fulfilling that role, and the IMRH / DBMRH can take over the role from them later on.

Chetak / Cheetah - 40+ years old helicopters
Dhruv - I surely wonder

DBMRH - If it happens it is after 2031.

When did Adani ever design and manufacture any helicopters?

Adani puts up shop and gets foreign maal and then stamps Drishti-10 and Drishti-5, etc and tries to sell to his buddies in GoI. Foreign maal only.

 

[Arz786]

NUH RFP under Strategic Partnership (SP) model was cancelled a couple of years ago because ALH Naval version appeared to be acceptable to Navy. HAL's problem of ALH blade folding and tail rotor folding in order to fit in the hanger / stowage place on ship was apparently resolved. So, foreign players namely Airbus Helicopter and Sikorsky, who were in talks with Indian business conglomerates such as Mahindra and Tata ended their India NUH project. What changed now ?

 

[desigandu]

No foreign maal...We should accelerate IMRH naval version...Also HAL should be divested of its helicopter division with a private sector player being the lead player...HAL has too many things going on and lacks the culture and the focus.

 

[Frank]

I humbly disagree. Among all foreign entities who ruled over India or parts of it over the centuries, the British were by far the worst.

ret ard is lam ic invasion was the w0rst..

we lost 40% of land because of that

we have 20 cancer in our country because of that

we dont have any brittish living in india right now