Digital maps shall be out there on cockpit shows, mentioned an HAL official. (File)

New Delhi:

Indian fighter jets will quickly be geared up with digital maps to assist pilots keep away from dropping instructions, mentioned a high official from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a premier aerospace and defence producer.

“Now no pilot will cross the border by mistake. They won’t lose the way like Group Captain Abhinandan. No pilot will have a manual map anymore as the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has prepared a digital map for the pilots,” mentioned DK Sunil, director, Engineering and R&D, HAL.

The digital maps are designed and produced in India.

Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, then a Wing Commander, was captured by Pakistani forces after he ejected from his MiG-21, which went down after placing an enemy jet through the 2019 Balakot airstrikes. He was returned three days later.

In such fight conditions, digital maps are anticipated to assist pilots keep away from dropping instructions and keep inside boundaries, the defence producer expects. The course of is already underway to equip the Indian fighter jets with the most recent digital maps.

Pilots will have the ability to test the map on their cockpit show whereas flying and it will assist the navigation, Mr Sunil informed NDTV.

“The map will be available in 2D and 3D. Pilots will be alerted in advance if they are in a hilly area. This will reduce the possibility of accidents in high hilly areas. The digital map will also tell about enemy military bases and air defence systems,” he added.

The digital maps are designed and produced in India in a lift to self-reliance within the defence sector. 

They are being put in in all fighter jets, he mentioned, including that only a few nations on the earth have been in a position to make such maps themselves.

“We will fit these on every aircraft. All its hardware and software have been made in the country. Earlier, these maps used to be made in abroad only, but not we have started manufacturing them,” mentioned Mr Sunil.