Indian Army to have its own fleet of attack helicopters

New Delhi, Oct 13 (ANI): The Defence Ministry has decided to allow the Indian Army to have its own fleet of attack helicopters for operational readiness, ending a long feud between the Army and the Air Force.

The decision comes days after IAF chief Air Marshal N A K Browne told reporters at his annual press conference on October 5 that it was not possible to have "little air forces".

Defence Minister A K Antony had termed the fight between the IAF and Army over the attack helicopters as a 'family problem'.

Antony gave his go-ahead for the Army to build its own fleet of attack choppers following interventions from the National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon who discussed the contentious issue with Army Chief General Bikram Singh and his IAF counterpart Air Marshal N A K Browne.

Menon advised the Government that the Army should own and operate the medium lift attack helicopters.

The first batch of Apache helicopters to be bought from USA may go the Indian Army.

Currently, India has two squadrons of attack helicopters, Mi-25 and Mi-35, which are maintained

and manned by the Indian Air Force but under the operational control of the Indian Army.

The proposal to arm the Army with attack helicopters was mooted by the former Chief of Army Staff General V K Singh as a part of transformation of the Army into a more leaner, meaner and network-centric force. (ANI)