The Indian Dornier surveillance aircraft will now guard the coastline of Seychelles - the island country.

Shri AK Antony, the Defence Minister handed over a Dornier surveillance DO-228 aircraft to the Foreign Minister of Seychelles Mr. Jean Paul Adam at a function yesterday. The maritime surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coastline of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.

The DO-228 is a highly reliable, multi-purpose, fuel efficient, rugged, light weight twin turbo prop aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear.

The Dornier 228 manufactured by the defence public sector undertaking, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will also be supported by the HAL team for maintenance on site to enable the new user to get the requisite expertise.

Describing the event as yet another milestone in the defence cooperation between India and Seychelles, Shri Antony said HAL-DO-228 aircraft is a frontline surveillance platform for applications like maritime reconnaissance, intelligence warfare, search and rescue, pollution control and transport. He expressed confidence that the aircraft will prove useful for maritime applications by Seychelles, as it is fitted with the latest state of the art surveillance and communication equipment. 

The Foreign Minister of Seychelles Mr. Jean Paul Adam thanked New Delhi for the aircraft and said it will revolutionize the coastal surveillance of Seychelles. He said it will not only help Seychelles to fight piracy but would come as a useful platform for security in a broader way.

The transport aircraft division of HAL at Kanpur for has manufactured the aircraft three months ahead of schedule.

Source: http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GAD-indian-dornier-surveillance-aircraft-to-guard-seychelles-coastline-4166051-NOR.html?HF-29=