IAF’s Jaguar with AESA radar flies for first time

An upgraded Jaguar strike aircraft fitted with an advanced AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar has been tested for the first time in Bengaluru. Test pilots at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) tested the fighter plane on August 10, 2017.

The upgradation is expected to increase the shelf life of the fighter plane by more than a decade.

The AESA radar which is imported from Israel, has been fitted to Jaguar DARIN III planes. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is upgrading the set of Jaguars from level DARIN I to DARIN III. As a matter of fact, DARIN stands for Display Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation and adds strength to the fighter plane during combat.  In addition to AESA radar, the fighter plane will be equipped with 28 other sensors.

Reports suggest that Jaguar Darin III will enhance the existing capability of Indian Air Force. It will be now equipped with several key features like higher bandwidth of operation, ability to track multiple targets, higher accuracy and resolution and interleaved modes of operation.

Three variants of the Jaguar plane will be modernized with new fire control radar, GPS based inertial navigation system, engine and flight instrument system and a radio altimeter with a range of 20,000 feet.

The striker aircraft will prove to a big muscle for IAF after the upgraded version is tested and certified to be fight-worthy.