IAF Chinook helicopter in PUSHPAK RLV-LEX 2 mission

New Delhi, March 22:  The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Chinook helicopter has been used in an ISRO project related to Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) 'PUSHPAK' as part of its RLV-LEX 2 mission. The helicopter was used for its airlift quality.

The IAF said on Friday, "Utilising the Indian Air Force's Chinook helicopter for its airlift and subsequent positioning at a predefined altitude and location, ISRO successfully demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) 'PUSHPAK' as part of its RLV-LEX 2 mission."

The IAF said that airlifted to an altitude of 4.5 km, IAF Air Warriors were part of the successful mission.

The IAF heartily congratulated ISRO on achieving this milestone and added that it would contribute and collaborate in future as well for many such undertakings.

Chinook is a tandem-rotor, heavy-lift chopper that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters.

It is named after the Native American Chinook people of Oregon and Washington.

The Chinook possesses several means of loading cargoes, including multiple doors across the fuselage, a wide loading ramp located at the rear of the fuselage and a total of three external ventral cargo hooks to carry underslung loads.