March 16, 2011: A year after this new helicopter made its first flight, the Indian Air Force has ordered 65 Indian made Light Combat Helicopters (LCH). These will begin arriving next year, when the LCH becomes operational. LCH is a 5.7 ton helicopter gunship that cruises at 260 kilometers an hour and has a max speed of 275. Endurance is about five hours per sortie and max altitude is 5,500 meters (17,000 feet). There is a crew of two, with armament of a 20mm autocannon and about 2.5 tons of rockets, bombs and missiles. Electronics carried will allow for night attack operations.

There are two prototypes of the LCH, and two more under construction. These four aircraft will be used to complete development work. The twin-engine LCH is similar to the twin engine version of the AH-1 (like the U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z) and European Tiger.