Aerospace Diary

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW AIR TRANSPORT India's Airports Poised for Further Development by  Neelam Mathews  -  July 11, 2018, 8:30 AM As India struggles with infrastructure issues related to congestion at airports hard-pressed to deal with air traffic growing at 16 percent per year, capacity needs to be developed through a blend of improved efficiency of present resources and investment in new infrastructure. Recognizing this, Mumbai-based Maharashtra Airport Authority Co. (MADC, Hall 2, Booth 2538) is scouting for new relationships for its ambitious plan to support airport development in the western state of India. “We are here to showcase development of small airports and look for partners that create a value-add for a new unit we have created to improve regional connectivity from small airports in our state to other states,” said MADC marketing manager Atul Thakare. This is the newest initiative in India to support the federal government’s successful Regiona...

Neelam Mathews JULY 17, 2018 FIA 18 New Delhi and Mumbai International Airports will soon be operating environmentally friendly Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) TaxiBot vehicles. IAI's agreement with Delhi-based KSU Aviation includes the first phase of the contract to carry out controlled trials at the airports till end 2018. The second phase includes delivery of 38 additional vehicles within four years to the two airports. TaxiBot is a semi-robotic vehicle that connects to the aircraft and is controlled by the pilot to taxi the airplane from the airport’s jet bridge (“sleeve”) to the runway without using the aircraft's jet engines. In October, TaxiBot was officially certified by the U.S. FAA for dispatch towing for the Boeing 737 family. The system does not require any modification in airplane systems, APU replacement, added weight, or cargo space, according to the company. “The pilot is in control at all times after pushback using the airplane's tiller and br...

Neelam Mathews july 17, 2018 #FAI18 As the Indian aerospace and defense manufacturing ecosystem slowly moves towards the "Make in India" initiative along with policy changes to support it, the landscape is likely to prove challenging to government-owned manufacturers such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL, Chalet K7). Private industry is bringing competition and manufacturing capabilities are being enhanced, presenting growth opportunities for Indian defense manufactures such as Tata Group, Mahindra Defense Systems, Dynamatic Technologies, and Larsen & Toubro. HAL continues to be the market leader as India relies on imports to meet 70 percent of its defense requirements, with the remaining 30 percent met by domestic companies. Although India has sought to diversify its procurement sources, with a recent focus on the U.S., Russia continues to dominate Indian defense equipment spares imports, given that around 65 percent of its defense equipment is Russian (and mai...

Neelam Mathews July17, 2018 #FIA18 With three manufacturing facilities in the UK and sister plants around the globe, India-listed Dynamatic Technologies (Hall 1, Booth 1340) has “turned the industry on its head,” Udayant Malhoutra, managing director and CEO, lightheartedly suggested to AIN. His company has taken a revolutionary path and in a decade become a tier 1 sole supplier to the Airbus A320 family.  Dynamatic recently delivered the first commercial set of A330 flap track beams produced jointly in the UK and India. The facility has one of the largest and most flexible automated cells in Europe with robot loading and unloading of 5-axis machine tools producing monolithic components. Boeing's co-production partnership with Dynamatic includes the manufacture of aft pylon and cargo ramp assemblies for the CH-47F Chinook and the P8-I Poseidon. The company also produces the fuselage for the Bell 407. “We are investing and growing business in the UK, which is unique in so...

Neelam Mathews #FIA18 Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has signed letters of intent for six Boeing 787-9s with General Electric GEnx-1B engines and 13 Airbus A320/A321neos with CFM Leap 1-A engines. The order is valued at $3.1billion at list prices. In addition, Vistara will add a further 37 new leased A320neo-family models, taking the fleet of its A320neo-family to 50. “We have not yet signed a definitive agreement which is the next step,” Vistara CEO Leslie Thng told  AIN . The A320neo family will step up Vistara’s domestic network and support expansion on regional (short-haul) international routes. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery from next year's first quarter until 2023. Its 787-9s for medium-haul and long-haul international routes are expected to be delivered between 2020 and 2021, Thng added. The company believes the 787-9 is “the best fit for us to support the expansion roadmap we have envisaged for Vist...

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW AEROSPACE Quest Digital Threads Services across Manufacturing by  Neelam Mathews  -  July 15, 2018, 6:00 AM  Singapore-headquartered Quest Global (Hall 1, Booth #1570), a pure-play engineering services company, is showcasing augmented reality solutions that it calls "futuristic aerospace solutions," such as AR360 for repairs, Internet of Things (IoT) based asset tracking to maximize operational efficiency for aero OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and a cabin surveillance system with deep learning and digital engineering. The company offers mechanical, electrical, electronics, embedded, engineering software, engineering analytics, manufacturing and supply chain solutions across the complete engineering lifecycle. Co-founder, chairman, and CEO Ajit Prabhu said: “Our ‘local-global’ model enables maximum value interactions and high-quality deliveries at optimal cost.” The company has 8,700 specialists operating f...

                           by  Neelam Mathews  -  July 13, 2018, 9:00 AM Pix R2 Data Lab in Bangalore is a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Tata Consultancy Services. Rolls-Royce India (Hall 4, Stand 41394; Chalet Row D3), along with partner Tata Consultancy Services (TCS, Hall 1 1320), is expanding future data innovation opportunities in India with the establishment of R 2  Data Lab in Bangalore. “It looks at capturing, sharing, and analyzing data across Rolls-Royce so that new products and services can be developed to deliver further value to customers, improve existing services, and create new areas of growth,” Kishore Jayraman, president, Rolls-Royce, India and South Asia, told  AIN . The workforce currently stands at 30 data scientists and engineers and eight application developers, and that number will be increased to 100 by year-end. Rolls-Royce...

by  Neelam Mathews  - July 11, 2018, 10:38 AM #FIA18 Cyient is displaying for the first time at the Farnborough Airshow its indigenously designed and developed X-band Dual Transmit & Receive Module (DTRM) for next-generation radar applications. Cyient (Chalet A21) is a Hyderabad, India-based engineering, manufacturing, geospatial, network, and operations management services provider and is looking at offering the DTRM to the global market. This ultra-lightweight DTRM offers increased capabilities at much lower costs, a key advantage given that weight and cost are the major drivers of the ISR market today, said John Kenkel,  Cyient v-p and head of strategy and marketing aerospace and defense. Transmit and receive modules are the building blocks for active electronically scanned array radar and account for a significant portion of the radar development cost. “Our X-band single-channel Transmit & Receive Module is designed using...

Dublin operator targets more overseas opportunities Neelam Mathews Janes' Airports GMR strengthens grip on Hyderabad                                                             Chinese biometrics face the future India extends its planning horizon while delivering short-term project New Islamabad reflects importance of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Ukraine assesses CNS/ATM with an eye on common data processing Jewar scheme gains ground

13th July 2018 - 03:00 GMT  |  by  Neelam Mathews  in Delhi India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released draft regulations on requirements for civil UAS operations, but it is yet to release its regulatory policy, ......... ‘We are trying to push the ministries of home and of civil aviation, and integrating the two is proving to be a challenging job,’ said Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, ...Read more in Shephardmedia.com

DB - DIGITAL BATTLESPACE 4th July 2018 - 01:01 GMT  |  by  Neelam Mathews  in Delhi An RfP for assorted software-defined radios (SDR) for the Indian Army is still awaited after  suffering an indefinite delay. The deadline for two separate RfI responses – one for handheld  and manpack radios and another for truck-, AFV- and helicopter-mounted radios – to replace legacy radios was back on 17 March 2017 ... WANT TO READ MORE? Shephardmedia .co