India to present Dornier aircraft to Seychelles

[mirage2K]

KANPUR: India will gift a Dornier DO-228 aircraft to Seychelles to carry out surveillance and anti-piracy missions.

Defence minister AK Antony will present Hindustan Aironautics Limited's Dornier DO-228 aircraft to Seychelles President James Michel on January 31.

Seychelles and HAL had signed a contract for two aircrafts on February 2012, and promised to deliver by 2014. However, HAL is handing over one of the aircrafts a year in advance.

General manager of HAL, Kanpur D Balasubramaniyam said at a press conference here on Thursday that HAL has manufactured a total of 117 Dornier DO-228 aircrafts till now, and presented to regional air services, defence forces — Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force.

In 2013-14, HAL is planning to make 30 Dornier DO-228 aircrafts for Air Force, Navy and DRDO, and 10 aircrafts for South Africa, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Philippines, Thailand and Ecuador, he said. India has also presented two Dornier aircrafts to Mauritius.

The GM said since the central government is planning to connect small cities to metros and bigger cities, they have asked HAL to increase manufacturing of Dornier to be used as civil passenger aircrafts.

This highly fuel-efficient and low maintenance aircraft can fly for 5.5 hours upto 2,500 kilometres and needs only 750 meter space for runway.

Dornier 228 aircraft has two Garrett TPE Engines and fuel efficiency of 2,859 ltr with maximum speed at 428 km per hour.

HAL was given the licence by Dornier GmbH of Germany to manufacture Dornier as a light transport aircraft on November 29, 1983.

Two crew members and 15-19 passengers can sit in the aircraft.

The Dornier DO-228 aircraft can be used for air taxi, utility, corporate, aircrew training, apart from maritime surveillance, search & rescue and for observation & communication duties.

HAL will provide diesel auto pilot facility and glass cockpit aircrafts to Indian Air Force and foreign countries.
India to present Dornier aircraft to Seychelles - The Times of India

 

[whitefox011]

why gift do we have too much of these aircraft?

 

[mirage2K]

we manufacture at HAL and have gifted so that they can have better surveillance of their island territories...they are already connected to the Indian Navy security grid with the mainland and Indian navy ships are patrolling their territories already

 

[ashok321]

why gift do we have too much of these aircraft?

STRATEGIC ISSUE....

Remember what Z.A.Bhuto said - we will eat grass but would have an Atom Bomb.

 

[ANPP]

Ecuador order Dornier from HAL. I think HAL made pretty great penetration in their defense market.

 

[kurup]

Antony hands over HAL-DO-228 Aircraft to Seychelles

The Defence Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony handing over keys of HAL Dornier 228 to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Seychelles, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam in New Delhi.


New Delhi: The Defence Minister A. K. Antony handed over a Dornier DO-228 to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Seychelles, Jean-Paul Adam at a function here today. The aircraft is built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The maritime surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coast line of island nation.

“It is yet another milestone of our close friendship between our two countries,” said Antony. He congratulated HAL for delivering the aircraft much ahead of schedule and also asked HAL to maintain timelines for the products meant for the Indian armed forces.

The Foreign Minister of Seychelles thanked India for the aircraft and said it will enable his country to fight piracy and strengthen the overall security in the Indian Ocean.

“The aircraft delivered to Seychelles will be supported by HAL team for maintenance on site to enable the new user get the requisite expertise”, said R. K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL.

The aircraft is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art facilities and is excellent platform of maritime applications, he added.

Mr. Waven Williams, High Commissioner for Seychelles to India, Major Micheal Pouponneau, Commanding Officer, Seychelles Air Force, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral D.K. Joshi, R. K. Mathur, Secretary Defence Production, Sanjay Singh, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs were among the invitees present in the ceremony.

Fuelled by the growth prospects of this aircraft, HAL has also set eyes on export market. While the full aircraft structures are already being exported to Germany for assembly and supply to world-wide market, efforts are underway to achieve direct exports. The company is making efforts to export its product in the military markets in Mauritius, Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa, Afghanistan and Columbia. Efforts are also being made to into the civil export markets that are suited for HAL-DO-228s.

HAL manufactures this aircraft under license agreement with the erstwhile Dornier GmbH of Germany at its Transport Aircraft Division, Kanpur, and has world-wide unfettered sales and marketing rights. Along with the airframe, engines and several of the systems and avionics are also produced in house at various Divisions of HAL ensuring single window life-time support to the customers. The cockpit is designed to accommodate two crew members and is fitted with duplicate controls. The cabin can accommodate 19 passengers in commuter configuration.

Indian Defence News - Antony hands over HAL-DO-228 Aircraft to Seychelles