New Delhi, July 13, 2005 (Asian Age)

The Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force have been upgraded by the Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Nine of these upgraded fighters will be handed over to the IAF in Bangalore on July 15.

Jaguars are the deep penetration fighters which have been in operation with the IAF for more than 20 years now. As per the plan, the HAL will upgrade 40 of these fighters. The work on the first lot of nine has been completed. The new Jaguars have been fitted with several equipment, including advanced radar, electronic warfare system and an auto-pilot instrument.

The Jaguars were the first type of aircraft that had flown overseas. The Indian Air Force achieved the difficult task of sending the aircraft for an exercise, Cope Thunder, in Alaska last year. It was a challenging mission as the Jaguars did not have auto-pilot facilities making it taxing for the pilots to go on long-distance flights.

Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee is flying to Bangalore, along with Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, for the handing over ceremony.

The upgraded Jaguars will now have new avionics based on the Israeli, French and Russian systems. The induction of Jaguars more than 20 years back was a big event for the IAF as it provided the capability to cross Indian shores. Jaguars were the first aircraft to operate from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Some of the aircraft were operating with the outdated First General navigation systems. The IAF had planned to equip the aircraft with self-protection jammer. The Jaguar strike fighter was also equipped with Magic air-to-air missiles.