HAL plans to make radio altimeters for Dornier plane

Chandigarh, January 29

The Dornier Do-228 light transport aircraft used by the armed forces as well as civilian operators are set to get indigenously-developed radio altimeters which will replace the foreign-made gadgets presently being used in the aircraft.

German aircraft

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited manufactures German-origin Dorniers at its Kanpur unit
• It has invited local industry for design and development of radio altimeters
• The equipment provides accurate altitude information to cockpit crew during low altitude flight

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which manufactures the German-origin Dorniers at its Kanpur unit, has invited the Indian industry for the design and development and subsequent supply of fully assembled radio altimeters.

The radio altimeter provides accurate altitude information to the cockpit crew during low altitude flight, generally up to a height of about 2,500 ft. It consists of a receiver transmitter and antennae for exchange of information with ground stations.

Sources said a request for information was floated by HAL about a month ago, stating that a new radio altimeter for the Do-228 was an “immediate requirement.” At present, the Dorniers are equipped with the Collins ALT-4000 radio altimeter that is manufactured by Collins Aerospace, a US-based subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies that also has a set-up in India.

More than 140 Do-228 aircraft produced by HAL are presently in service in India and overseas, primarily with the Indian Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard.