EXCLUSIVE! Increased R&D attracts Aeroflex to India

Neelam Mathews

Dec 20, 2011

U.S based Aeroflex has launched a new subsidiary in Bangalore, India. It will be the country’s nucleus for Aeroflex’s sales, service, and application support for Aeroflex’s test and measurement (T&M) products and systems.  

             

The trends are apparent in the Indian market, explains Stephen Hire, the new General Manager for India, Aeroflex. “The first is the nature of commercial R&D. Legacy stuff was outsourced to India ….We are now seeing cutting edge R&D in India and …we are now seeing parts of that R&D work being led by India. That needs support capability.”

Another trend is the warming of ties between U.S and India attracting U.S companies to India that provides a key opportunity for signal generators, intelligence and avionics. “We felt that because commercial wireless and defense are important to India, the time is right (for us to enter the market).

When you look at India, space, commercial, Wireless, defense and avionics are a big tick,” says Hire.

“Were putting a lot of investment into developing common platforms that will allow us to reuse technology and bring products  into the market faster….. Wev’e been growing strongly and looking to support the NG of growth- India is the key opportunity for us,” adds Hire.

The company is known for its strength in signal generators and spectrum analysers. One of the first activities of the office will be launching the new additions to the Aeroflex S-Series signal generator product line. Aeroflex is adding two new S-Series digital RF signal generators to its product line—the SGD in 3 GHz and 6 GHz models—as well as and two new vector signal analyzers—the SVA, available in 6 GHz and 13 GHz models. The S-Series was first introduced a year ago with the launch of the SGA analog RF signal generators. 

“With these latest additions, the S-Series has matured into a truly integrated benchtop measurement system, with the facility to link different instruments both electronically and mechanically using Aeroloc,” said Hiren Joshi, product manager, Aeroflex Test Systems.

“Using the instruments together with the embedded software tools gives the user the capability to accurately generate and analyze complex wideband modulated signals to test systems and components for a wide range of applications, including mobile communications, defense, and aerospace,”adds Joshi.

Repair and caliberation are big applications for commercial aviation presently being used by Air India in its hangars in Delhi and Mumbai. “We’re looking at MROs coming along (in India) as (presently) private airlines are doing their maintenance overseas,” adds Hire.