Upgraded Jaguar DARIN III aircraft receives IOC

The upgraded Jaguar DARIN III twin-seat aircraft on 24 November 2016 received the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC). IOC is a significant milestone for India’s military aviation sector.

This completion of IOC for DARIN III was announced by Deputy Chief of IAF, Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria. In recent past, he flew the aircraft at HAL airport in Bengaluru. Wg Cdr V Prabhakaran, the test Pilot of Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment, was his co-pilot.

HAL CMD, T Suvarna Raju said the aircraft is now equipped with world-class avionics system.

DARIN III

• It was created by upgrading three DARIN I Standard Jaguars.

• Three DARIN I (Display Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation) jaguars were indigenously upgraded at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) Mission and Combat System Research and Design Centre (MCSRDC).

• The up gradation included designing and development of the complete system like the electrical and mechanical design, software and hardware.

• The upgrade incorporates new state-of-the-art avionics architecture including

a. Open System Architecture Mission Computer (OSAMC)

b. Fire Control Radar

c. Solid State Digital Video Recording System (SSDVRS)

d. Autopilot with Alt Select & HNAV

e. Identification of Friend or Foe (IFF) and more

Organisations involved in upgrading Jaguar from DARIN-I aircraft to DARIN-III included Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the trial team of the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), certification agencies and others.

Comment: The up gradation was part of IAF’s modernisation plan to upgrade the four decades old Jaguar fighter planes.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

HAL is India’s aerospace and defence company. It is based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It is governed under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence. Being government-owned, the organisation is engaged in operations of the aerospace industry like manufacturing and assembly of aircraft, navigation and related communication equipment and airports operation.

It is the organisation that built the first military aircraft in South Asia. At present, it is involved in designing, fabricating and assembling of helicopters, aircraft, jet engines, and their spare parts.