Aerospace Diary

By Neelam Mathews Feb 18, 2015  Israel's Defense Minister, Lt. Gen. (ret) Moshe Ya'alon, this week became the first Israeli defense minister to visit India, despite the fact that Israel is one of India’s top-three military technology trading partners and that the two countries have had full diplomatic ties since 1992. Ya’alon told reporters at the Aero India show in Bangalore that the relationship between Israel and India is “finally out of the closet” and that his presence in the country is a sign of deepening relations. Responding to Indian Prime Minister   Narendra Modi's speech   at Aero India, in which he indicated, as part of his “Make in India” campaign, there could be further liberalization of India’s defense procurement policies, Ya’alon was non-committal about whether this might result in Israel's agreeing to a higher degree of technology transfer. Modi said that the 49-percent limit on foreign direct investment in Indian defense ...

by  Neelam Mathews  - February 24, 2015, 1:18 PM Last week's Aero Industry even was the biggest in the show's history. (Photo: Indian Ministry of Defence) While no major defense deals were signed at the Aero India show last week, it was clear that medium and small companies in India’s aerospace industry are starting to make their presence felt. More than 500 buyers and suppliers were at the show, which had a “Make in India” theme that was strongly promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he inaugurated the event. This was the biggest show since its inception with 33 countries participating. Sixty-four of those companies hailed from the U.S.; 58 came from France. There were 48 companies from the  UK , 41 from Russia, 25 from Israel and 17 from Germany. All of them expressed support for the ‘Make in India’ theme. Seven of the 11 foreign military aircraft on display were from the U.S.: two F-15C Eagles; two F-16C Fighting Falcons, a Boeing  K...

Flyers still coming to grips with apps Neelam Mathews   /  February 25, 2015 Adapting to apps, passengers want personalised connections -- -- -- The world is getting more connected with 97% of airline passengers carrying at least one personal electronic device. However, passengers have been slow to adopt new airline and airport mobile services when travelling, says a report by air transport IT provider, SITA, titled ‘The Future is Personal”. Adapting to apps, passengers want personalised connections Airlines have made significant investments in mobile services over the past four years and half of the world's airports provide flight information via apps. The report involved talking to more than 6000 passengers “at 106 airports across the world which handled 2.35 billion passengers last year and with airlines that together carried more than half the world’s passenger traffic". Airlines have made significant investments in mobile services ov...

Neelam Mathews Feb 24, 2015     Samtel Thales Avionics: created in 2010, a Joint venture between Samtel Avionics (74%), Thales Avionics (20%) and Thales India (6%), is moving faster now. The JV has since matured and has  been operational since Dec. last year.   Thales’s expertise and know-how in this area will allow the joint venture to complete its objective of becoming a key private player offering Thales’s ‘Made in India’ products, an official told Aerospace Diary. The new industrial structure being set up will create offsets in the avionics and optronics fields as well as redesign and the treatment of obsolete materials, either for the Thales Group or others with similar offset obligations in India.   The resource capacities of the new facility include 1000 m2: production platform, clean room, test benches, climate chamber. The local supply chain includes subcontractors, all of which have been approved by Thales and Samtel.

Aviation bosses urged to crackdown on pollies who dilly-dally By Neelam Mathews   /  February 24, 2015 India’s politicians told to get a move on at the airport.  Photo Credit: Boeing -- -- -- -- -- Times are changing and the people's voice is getting louder against favours to politicians in India. A social activist has demanded that the Indian ministry of civil aviation takes action against politicians who are in the habit of delaying flights. India’s politicians told to get a move on at the airport.  Photo Credit: Boeing Air India's Chicago-Delhi-Hyderabad flight AI-126, scheduled to take off at 1900 hours on February 20 was delayed by 45 minutes at Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi) because "Chaudhary was allegedly busy shopping at the airport".  The instance of a Congress parliamentarian, Renuka Chaudhary, who "has become a habitual and repeat offender for causing flight-delays", has been cited. Air Indi...

Gordon Arthur   &   Neelam Mathews   Closer US-India military cooperation in the UAV field kicked up a gear when  AeroVironment  and Bangalore-based  Dynamatic Technologies  inaugurated a production facility on 17 February.  The two companies will now co-develop a next generation unmanned aircraft system dubbed Cheel (Eagle), which was unveiled during Aero India on February 18. The Cheel will be based on AeroVironment’s small UAS expertise, with the design an evolution of the lightweight 5kg  RQ-11B Raven  and  12 Kg Puma ....... The prototype is expected to be ready in 12 months, according to Dynamatic Technologies CEO and managing director Udayant Malhoutra.  .... ...more on Shephardmedia

N eelam Mathews Feb 19, 2015                      Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha speaking at the Aero India show. (Photo: Neelam Mathews) India will not buy more Sukhoi Su-30s instead of the medium multi-role combat aircraft ( MMRCA ), Indian Air Force ( IAF ) Chief Arup Raha told  AIN  at the Aero India show in Bangalore on February 19. There had been speculation that India would turn to Russia for more combat aircraft, after three years of incompleted  MMRCA negotiations with France for the Dassault Rafale. However, “there is no Plan B,” Raha said. Raha said the two types would be complementary, and that the  IAF ’s MiG-21s and MiG-27s have reached obsolescence and need to be replaced. The  IAF  Chief was replying to a query about how urgently the  IAF requires the Rafale. “It is important that we have the  MMRCA  in the quickest possible time…to build to a 42 combat ...

Neelam Mathews Feb 18, 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the February 18 opening of the Aero India show in Bangalore signaled that his government intends to fulfill its promises to reform the country’s defense procurement policies. Exhibitors responded positively to the prospect that India’s leaders might finally put an end to years of what many in the industry view as gross inefficiency and missed opportunity. Modi, elected last year on a platform of economic reform, acknowledged that a key plank of his reform agenda is opening up opportunities for India’s private sector aerospace and defense companies so that not all partnerships with Western manufacturers have to be channeled through state-controlled entities that have often struggled to manage programs effectively. “Our defense industry will succeed more if we can transform the manufacturing sector in India,” Modi told show visitors in a speech that reiterated the key objectives of his “Make...

Neelam Mathews  -  February 17, 2015, 1:33 PM G. Asok Kumar, joint secretary of India's Ministry of Civil Aviation, promised members of the country's Business Aviation Operators Association that long-awaited regulatory reform is less than a month away. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] Within the next month, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation intends to publish a long-awaited revised policy to specifically take account of business aviation. The ministry’s joint secretary G. Asok Kumar announced the initiative at the BizAvIndia Conference staged in Bangalore by India’s Business Aviation Operators Association ( BAOA ) on February 17. Kumar explained that the ministry has a subcommittee focusing on issues impeding business aircraft operations in India. For instance, a requirement for landing and aircraft parking fees to be paid in cash has been “an embarrassment,” he acknowledged. Another significant change as part of the new aviation policy is a new classification...

by Neelam Mathews  - February 17, 2015, 2:54 PM The Indian government is hopeful that the  U.S.  Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) will soon upgrade the country’s rating under the International Aviation Safety Assessment ( IASA ) program from Category 2 to Category 1. The rating was downgraded in  January 2014  on the basis of deficiencies in the capability of the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) to regulate safety standards in the country’s air transport industry. An  FAA  inspection team is due to visit India during the first week of March to assess the degree to which the DGCA  has improved its safety oversight. “We are confident that the downgrade will be revoked and that a decision will be made by around April or May,” Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation joint secretary G. Asok Kumar told AIN  at a conference held in Bangalore on the eve of this week’s AeroIndia show. According to a  DGCA ...

by   Neelam Mathews  -Pix Credit-Snecma February 16, 2015, 3:18 PM France’s Snemca and India’s Max Aerospace have finalized an agreement to form an aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul operation called Maxaero Aircraft Engines Pvt Ltd ( MAEPL ). The partners claim that the operation, which is set to start operations during the second quarter of 2015, will be India’s first privately owned engine   MRO   joint venture. Initially,   MAEPL   will provide line support for the Snecma M53 engines that power Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters operated by India’s air force. The service has indicated that it plans to outsource more maintenance work. The new company will also start supporting   CFM 56 airliner engines, made by Snecma’s   CFM   International partnership with   GE   Aviation. According to   MAEPL   chairman Bharat Malkani, there are currently approximately 400 CFM 56 engines in ser...