Bengaluru: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for co-development and co-production of long range dual band Infra-Red Search and Track System (IRST) for Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jets on April 26.

HAL in a release said, “The proposed IRST system will be a high-end strategic technology product in the field of defence avionics and technically competitive to existing IRST system in the global market with features of Television Day Camera, Infrared & LASER sensors in single window for air-to-air and air-to-ground target tracking and localisation.”

The contract was signed by Suneel Kumar Srivastava, GM, HAL and Loyola Pedro Vianney G, GM, BEL. The two defence PSUs will co-develop the Long Range Dual Band Infra-Red Search and Track System (IRST) for the Su-30 MKI under the MAKE-II procedure.

Projects under the ‘Make-II’ category will involve prototype development of equipment/system/platform or their upgrades or their subsystems/sub-assembly/assemblies/components. No government funding is provided for prototype development purposes.

The system will enhance the Indian Air Force’s air superiority. The joining of hands of the two defence PSUs for development of technologically-critical IRST gives impetus to self-reliance in the defence sector. This initiative also opens a future path in the field of indigenous defence manufacturing for development of high-end strategic technology products of IRST for various platforms in a global competitive environment, HAL added.