Article Posted on : - Nov 18, 2012

Defence Minister A K Antony addressing officials while inaugurating the new HAL facility in Kerala.

KASARGOD/BANGALORE (BNS): Defence Minister A K Antony has inaugurated the strategic electronics manufacturing unit of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) at Seethangoli in Kasargod district of Kerala.

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which was opened on November 17, will produce advanced avionics for aircraft and helicopters of the Indian armed forces.

"Production has already started at the new factory and the inauguration was a mere formality," Antony said, adding that the manufacturing unit will be developed as a major aerospace firm of India.

The Kerala government had allotted 196 acres of land for setting up the new unit. The foundation stone for the construction of the factory buildings was laid by the Defence Minister on August 23, 2008.

In the first phase of development, the new facility comprising of seven buildings dedicated for various activities like production, administration, technical services, materials management etc, has been set up in an area of 4,250 sq. meters at a cost of Rs. 66 crores.

Production of various systems including airborne special purpose computers like mission computer, display processor, radar computers, open architect mission computer etc. for the SU-30, MiG-27 and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has been taken up at the new unit, according to HAL.

This factory will be further expanded in phase-II to manufacture avionics for medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) like automatic electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare (EW) suite, communication and navigation equipment besides other indigenous systems, the leading aerospace major said in a statement from Bangalore.

The second phase expansion of the unit would be undertaken in the coming months, Antony said.

The facilities and expertise acquired at the new factory for advanced avionics of MMRCA would be used for various upcoming projects like Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Medium Lift Helicopter (MLH), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) etc, HAL said.

The Kasargod facility is an extension of the Hyderabad Avionics Division of HAL. The division is engaged in manufacturing a wide variety of electronic equipment in the areas of communication, radar, navigation computers and electronics warfare.

The new defence unit is the one of the six major strategic projects to come up in Kerala in recent years.

On November 14, Antony had inaugurated a new missile integration complex at Thiruvananthapuram.

The new facility at BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd. (BATL) is the second such unit where BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile systems will be produced.