The Government of Mauritius signed a contract with HAL in Mauritius capital Port Louis to acquire the versatile HAL-made Dornier aircraft for maritime surveillance to guard its extensive coastline. The contract was signed by Kan Oye Fong Weng Poorun, Senior Chief Executive, Prime Minister’s Office (Mauritius) and by S. Subrahmanyan, Managing Director, HAL (MiG Complex and Accessories).

“Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), External Affairs, our Coast Guard, and Government of Mauritius, this contract worth nearly Rs. 100 crore ($16 million) gives boost to our export efforts”, says Dr R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL.

HAL has fitted several role specific equipment on this aircraft to meet the specialised requirement of the customer, adds Dr Tyagi. In the past, the company supplied helicopters (Cheetah, Chetak and Dhruv) and two Dornier aircraft in maritime version to Mauritius. The inclusion of Dornier in the National Coast Guard, Mauritius Police Force would result in an extensive enhancement of the present search and rescue capability and provide strategic depth to policing the extensive exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The versatility of HAL-made Dornier has several in-built features such as highest fuel carrying capacity in its class (2,850 litres) due to integral fuel tanks in wings, low structural weight ensured through use of advanced composite materials, high wing design for unobstructed view and radar coverage, wide wheel base for better stability, short take-off and landing capability – the aircraft can take off from around 700 metres and land within 575 metres— essentially required for operations from short and semi-prepared airfields, sturdy landing gears, rectangular cabin offering more head space for passengers and mounting space for equipment in case of special mission configuration as opposed to circular cabin, low floor level and wide door for easy loading/unloading of cargo, flight openable roller door, four wing hard points for mounting of external loads up to 1,030 kg, optimum performance at normal cruising altitude for short haul applications enabled by the revolutionary design of wing aerofoil.