HAL carries out maiden flight of upgraded Jaguar 'Darin III'

"This is significant moment for HAL as the upgrade will result in major operational improvement with regard to all weather air-to-ground, air-to-sea and air-to-air capabilities through incorporation of multi-mode radar," HAL Chairman R K Tyagi said.

The total design from system requirement capture, specification preparation, software, hardware, electrical, mechanical design and development has been done indigenously by HAL at its Mission & Combat System Research & Design Centre (MCSRDC) and aircraft trial modification is done by HAL's Overhaul Division, the city-headquartered defence PSU said.

The fleet compliance will also be carried out by HAL.

Software Development Institute of IAF is the design partner for display software development.

Aircraft System Testing Establishment under the leadership of Air Vice-Marshal Raghunath Nambiar takes care of system specification preparation, data analysis and flight testing along with Flight Test Centre of HAL.

The upgrade incorporates new state-of-the-art avionics architecture including Mission Computer, Engine and Flight Instrument System, Solid State Digital Video Recording System, Solid State Flight Data Recorder and additional functions in inertial global positioning system, autopilot, radar and RWR, a HAL statement.