No. 143 Helicopter Unit, IAF

No. 143 Helicopter Unit
Active	1 June 2022 - Present
Country	Republic of India
Branch	Indian Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Jodhpur AFS
Nickname(s)	"Dhanush"
Aircraft flown
Attack	HAL Prachand

Military unit

No. 143 Helicopter Unit (Dhanush) is a helicopter Unit and is equipped with HAL Prachand based at Jodhpur AFS.^[1]

History

143 Helicopter Unit, is the latest attack helicopter unit of the Indian Air Force. It is the first unit to be equipped with the indigenously developed HAL Prachand attack helicopter.^[2] The unit was raised on 1 June 2022 and started receiving the initial lot of helicopters from 18 July, 2022. The unit officially inducted 4 HAL Prachand on 3 October, 2022.^[3]

Assignments

The unit will be tasked to carry out mainly ground attack missions. Prachand also has limited aerial combat capability. Armed with M621 cannon on Nexter THL-20 turret, ATAM, FZ275 LGR rockets and Dhruvastra anti-tank guided missiles, the helicopter is well versed in carrying out varied operations duties.^[2]

Aircraft


Aircraft	From	To	Air Base
HAL Prachand	3 October 2022	Present	Jodhpur AFS^[4]

Gallery

Helicopter Unit 143 ceremony pics

References

^ Peri, Dinaker (3 October 2022). "Induction of indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter marks a new chapter: Air chief". The Hindu.
^ ^a ^b "Indigenously Designed and Developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) inducted into Indian Air Force" (Press release). PIB. 3 October 2022.
^ "4 Light Combat Helicopters join IAF 143 HU; LCH is lethal and formidable". Asianet News. 3 October 2022.
^ "IAF inducts first made-in-India light combat helicopters". LiveMint. 3 October 2022.

Indian Air Force

Leadership

Minister of Defence
Chief of the Air Staff
Vice Chief of the Air Staff
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff
AOCs-in-C (Commander-in-Chief)
Serving marshals

Components
& commands

Air Force commands

Operational	Central Air Command Eastern Air Command Southern Air Command South Western Air Command Western Air Command
Functional	Training Command Maintenance Command
Joint	Andaman and Nicobar Command Strategic Forces Command Defence Cyber Agency Defence Space Agency Armed Forces Special Operations Division

Air bases

Western Air Command	Adampur Ambala Amritsar Awantipora Bathinda Chandigarh Faridabad Gurugram Halwara Hindan Leh Palam Pathankot Sarsawa Siachen Glacier Sirsa Srinagar Udhampur
Eastern Air Command	Agartala Bagdogra Barapani AFS Barrackpore Chabua Dum Dum Hasimara Jorhat Kalaikunda Kumbhigram Mohanbari Mountain Shadow Tawang Tezpur Panagarh
Central Air Command	Agra Bihta Darbhanga Bakshi Ka Talab Bamrauli Bareilly Chakeri Gorakhpur Maharajpur
Southern Air Command	Car Nicobar Coimbatore Madurai Port Blair Tambaram Thanjavur
South Western Air Command	Bhuj Jaisalmer Jamnagar Jodhpur Lohegaon Nal-Bikaner Naliya Phalodi Uttarlai Makarpura
Training Command	Begumpet Bidar Dundigal Hakimpet Yelahanka Belgaum
Maintenance Command	Nagpur Ojhar
Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs)	Along Chinyalisaur Chushul Daulat Beg Oldi Fukche Hayuliang Mechuka Nyoma Pasighat Airport Tawang Thoise Tuting Vijaynagar Walong Ziro

Squadrons

Combat

No. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
15
16
17
18
20
23
24
27
28
30
31
45
47
101
102
106
220
221
222
223
224

Transport

No. 11
12
19
25
33
41
43
44
48
49
59
77
78
81
87

Helicopters

Squadrons	No. 104 125
Units	No. 105 107 109 110 111 112 114 115 116 117 118 119 127 128 129 130 143 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159
Flights	No. 121 122 126 131 132

Acrobatic display

Communication

AHQCS

EW/AWS

RPA

No. 3001
3002
3003
3004
3005

Number plated

No. 10
21
22
26
29
32
35
37
51
108

Aircraft

Military
academies

Education & training	Sainik School Armed Forces Medical College Ajmer Military School Bangalore Military School Belgaum Military School Chail Military School Dholpur Military School Rashtriya Indian Military College
Schools & colleges	Air Force Academy Air Force Administrative College Air Force School, Coimbatore Air Force School, Jodhpur Flying Instructors School Indian Air Force Test Pilot School Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment Air Defence College College of Air Warfare
Tri-service institutions	Defence Services Staff College National Defence Academy National Defence College College of Defence Management Military Institute of Technology