The impetus for the development of the LCH came in the form of the Kargil War, a conflict fought between India and neighbouring Pakistan in 1999, which revealed the Indian armed forces to lack a suitable armed rotorcraft capable of operating unrestricted in the high-altitude theatre.
O ímpeto polo desenvolvemento do LCH chegou na forma da guerra de Kargil, un conflito loitado entre a India e Paquistán en 1999, que revelou que as forzas armadas indias carecían dun helicóptero armado axeitado capaz de operar sen restricións nun teatro a gran altitude.