Indian Navy to form 3 new naval maritime patrol aviation squadrons

An Indian Navy Dornier Do-228NG maritime patrol aircraft.

The Indian government has approved the formation of three (3) new naval air squadrons for the Indian Navy, all of which would be assigned to maritime surveillance patrols in Western and Southern India.

All three naval surveillance squadrons will receive new Dornier Do-228 maritime patrol aircraft, 12 of which were ordered in December 2016, and are license-built in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Although not mentioned in reports, HAL currently manufacture the latest Do-228NG (New Generation) in their facility in Kanpur.

The Indian Navy Do-228NG are equipped with sensors and equipment including an advanced surveillance radar and optical sensors, has a glass cockpit and is equipped with networking capability, which could perform to address India’s requirement for increased maritime domain awareness and provide targeting data.

Also, recruitment of additional manpower was approved to man existing and new Do-228 equipped surveillance squadrons.



[1] The Economic Times
[2] IHS Jane’s
[3] Defence News India