Tu-142M

Dornier Do-228

The government has cleared the purchase and integration of Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) on the Indian Navy's Tu-142, Dornier Do-228 and Il-38SD aircraft fleets, in a crucial move to shore up flight safety during extended operations at sea. The navy has for years felt the need to give its reconnaissance fleet airborne collision avoidance systems. The recent deployment of P-8I aircraft in the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 underscored the need for TCAS on all aircraft. The navy's Tu-142s, also based at INS Rajali in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu, had also been on standby for the search operation but were not used since they would have been deployed in airspace that was thick with other aircraft and helicopters. The navy's worst ever disaster before the INS Sindhurakshak tragedy last year, was the mid-air collision of two Il-38s in Goa during jubilee celebrations of the navy's air arm. The effort to arm these aircraft (new ones were procured subsequently) with TCAS and other safety systems has been on since then.