HAL’s Dhruv shows solid performance
India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), headquartered in Bangalore, has brought two examples–one civil production aircraft and a military prototype–of its indigenously designed Dhruv helicopter to show here at Farnborough International. Formerly known as the Advanced Light Helicopter, the 12,210-pound mtow Dhruv (a Hindi word which transliterates to “the pole”–referring to the North Star) has been in development since at least as early as November 1984 when HAL revealed the basic specifications of the helicopter. At that time MBB of Germany, later merged with France’s Aerospatiale to form Eurocopter, supported the program and indeed the Dhruv bears a strong resemblance to MBB’s smaller BK 117 model.