In a significant milestone for the country’s military aviation sector, the upgraded Jaguar DARIN III twin-seat aircraft has received Initial Operation Clearance (IOC). Deputy Chief of IAF, Air Marshal R K S Bhadauria, who flew the aircraft at HAL airport recently, announced the satisfactory completion of IOC.

• Test Pilot of Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment, Wg Cdr V Prabhakaran was his co-pilot.
• HAL CMD, T Suvarna Raju said the aircraft is now equipped with world class avionics system. Air Marshal Bhadauria said the DARIN III Upgrade was one of best upgrades in terms of data handling and overall capabilities.
• The total design and development covering system requirement capture, specification preparation, software, hardware, electrical and mechanical design and development were carried out indigenously at HAL’s Mission and Combat System Research and Design Centre (MCSRDC) and aircraft modification was done at Overhaul Division.
• Director (Engg and R & D),D K Venkatesh, ASTE Commandant Air Vice Marshal Sandeep Singh, and other senior executives witnessed the flight.
• Besides HAL, certification agencies, trial team of ASTE and other agencies were involved in the upgrade programme.
• Three DARIN I Standard Jaguars have been upgraded to DARIN III Standard by HAL.
• The upgrade incorporates new state-of-the-art avionics architecture including the Open System Architecture Mission Computer (OSAMC), Fire Control Radar, Solid State Digital Video Recording System (SSDVRS), Autopilot with Alt Select & HNAV and Identification of Friend or Foe (IFF) and more.