00:00These two visuals have something in common, the Cheetah helicopter.
00:03This video of Captain Bharat Vajh proposing to his girlfriend in front of a Cheetah helicopter
00:07left the internet divided.
00:08While most people debated the romance and whether it was appropriate,
00:11another section of the internet was asking a very different question.
00:14Why was a half a century old Cheetah helicopter still flying?
00:17The Cheetah is a 1960s helicopter, which was licensed from France.
00:21There have been lifelines for troops deployed in remote forward areas,
00:24including at the Siachen Glacier.
00:25But if you read what veterans such as Air Marshal A.S. Batola have said about the chopper,
00:29you'll understand why many believe the helicopter is unsafe to fly.
00:32That brings us to the second visual.
00:34On May 20, 2026, a version of the Cheetah crashed.
00:37But the three officers had a lucky escape.
00:39And one of them clicked this picture.
00:40But others weren't this lucky.
00:4216th March 2023, two officers aboard died.
00:445th October 2022, one officer died.
00:4711th March 2022, one killed.
00:4821th September 2021, two killed.
00:51And the list goes on.
00:52It isn't as if the Indian Army hasn't tried to replace them.
00:54From 2005, it says the Army has been trying to replace the Cheetah.
00:58It's not been able to do that because the contract has collapsed because of one reason.
01:04There have been deviation in contracts.
01:06There have been some irregularities that have been spotted.
01:08If we go by the recent news reports,
01:10the Cheetah's replacement will be HAL's light utility helicopter.
01:14The problem is that the LUH needs to be certified.
01:17This is the most optimistic projection.
01:19It would take you something like a decade to replace all of this.
01:22While using military equipment as a romantic backdrop is the new debate,
01:25the one about the Cheetah has been here for quite some time.
01:29Long.
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