Hindustan ALH Dhruv
The HAL Dhruv is India's first indigenously designed and built helicopter, developed to reduce the country's long-standing reliance on imported Russian and Western helicopter designs for its military and government fleets. Its bearingless, hingeless main rotor system, developed with German assistance, gives it strong agility for a utility helicopter of its size. It serves across the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard in troop transport, medical evacuation, and light attack roles, alongside a growing civilian and export presence. A dedicated armed version, the Rudra, and a purpose-built light combat derivative extend the same basic design into frontline attack duty.
.jpg){kind=link}
Did you know?
The HAL Dhruv is India's first indigenously designed and built helicopter, developed to cut reliance on imported Russian and Western designs.
Specifications
| Length | 15.9 m (52 ft) |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 13.2 m (43 ft) |
| Maximum passengers | 12 |
| Persons on board | 16 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 5.5 t |
| Range | 385 NM (713 km) |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft (6,096 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 14,000 ft (4,267 m) |
| Rate of climb | 2,033 ft/min (10.3 m/s) |
| Fuel capacity | 1,100 l |
| Engines | 2x HAL/Turbomeca Shakti |
| Units built | 440 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Hindustan ALH Dhruv starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Hindustan, the ALH Dhruv family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.