Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has handed over four Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter Mk IIIs to the Indian coast guard.
This brings the coast guard’s fleet to 16 examples since the beginning of deliveries in 2022, says HAL.
The handover follows the coast guard’s follow-on order for six additional Dhruvs signed in March.
The Dhruv is powered by a pair of HAL/Safran Shakti-1H1 turboshafts, a co-developed engine based on the Ardiden 1 turboshaft family.
The March order and the most recent delivery are milestones in the type’s recovery following a difficult year following the fatal crash of a coast guard Dhruv in January 2025 and a subsequent five-month grounding of maritime variants.
During the grounding, HAL addressed fatigue-induced fractures in the non-rotating swashplate.
HAL redesigned the swashplate assembly for higher stress tolerances. It has also replaced aluminium booster rods in the collective and cyclic pitch control circuits with high-tensile stainless-steel rods.
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