Swiss firm Ruag, HAL in JV for production of next generation Do-228 aircraft
12 Jun 2008
Berlin: The Dornier-228 aircraft, which has performed yeoman service in various Indian defence and civilian organisations in operations out at sea with the Indian Coast Guard or on unprepared airstrips in the far flung regions of the country's north-east, may get a fresh lease of life after the signing of a deal between India's aerospace major, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Swiss aerospace company Ruag. The two entities have signed a joint venture agreement for the manufacture of a next generation of Dornier 228 aircraft, at the recently concluded ILA 2008 air show at Berlin.
According to Ruag Aerospace's managing director, Wolfgang Neumann, his company's new collaboration with HAL aimed at producing a next generation of 19-seat Do-228 aircraft in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich as a ''milestone'' in the cooperation between the two companies and as a breakthrough for HAL in Europe.
According to Neumann, he was quite optimistic about the proposed collaboration between HAL and Ruag Aerospace in re-starting the production of one of the world's most proven multi-purpose aircraft in operation.
Under a $123 million joint venture agreement signed by the two companies at the recent International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin, HAL would supply the first three sets of components for the new aircraft - the fuselage, wings and the tail units - for its initial phase.
According to Neumann, production of the Dornier 228 new generation aircraft would start soon in Oberpfaffenhofen and HAL's involvement would be stepped up in coming years by adding new components to the assembly line.
The agreement signed in Berlin would be part of a ten-year contract.
Neumann also said he would not rule out the possibility that the new Do-228 would be manufactured completely by HAL, either in India or in Germany, sometime in the future.
HAL has considerable experience in manufacturing the original Dornier 228 aircraft and it has excellent manufacturing and servicing facilities in India.
