Defence Ministry inks Rs 2,890-crore contract with HAL for mid-life upgrade of 25 Dornier aircraft

The defence ministry said the project will be implemented within six and half years.

The defence ministry on Friday inked a contract worth over Rs 2,890 crore with state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for mid-life upgrade of 25 Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy. Under the project, the HAL will incorporate state-of-the-art avionics systems and sensors onboard the aircraft.

The defence ministry said the project will be implemented within six and half years. "The ministry of defence signed a contract with the HAL on March 15 for mid-life upgrade (MLU) of 25 Dornier aircraft along with associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,890 crore," an official readout said. "The MLU for Dornier aircraft includes an upgrade to incorporate state-of-the-art avionics systems and primary role sensors," the ministry said.

It said the upgrade would significantly enhance the operational capability of the Dornier aircraft. "The upgrade would significantly enhance the operational capability of the Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy to perform primary roles of maritime surveillance, coastal surveillance, electronic intelligence and development of maritime domain awareness," the defence ministry said in the readout.

"In addition, this upgrade will also enable Indian Navy Dorniers to carry out secondary roles of search and rescue, medical/casualty evacuation and communication link," it said. It said the MLU of 25 Dornier aircraft is likely to generate employment of 1.8 lakh mandays during its execution span of 6.5 years. "The indigenous upgrade entails supply of major systems and equipments from indigenous sources thus significantly contributing towards "Atmanirbharta" in defence, in consonance with Make-in-India initiative of government of India," the ministry said.