Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Sept 12, 2014 Our beloved Jasjit Singh must be smiling benevolently at many sessions of the recently held CAPS-CII conference, as straight talk was the order of the day. Must confess it took many a yawn away! Thanks to a lively session led by Retd Air Marshal Vinod Patney, who was not leaving any speaker off. Perhaps the one to receive maximum counter queries was Capt Todd Squire, Chief Office of Defense Cooperation,US Embassy, apparently not given too much leeway by his government to indulge in 'small talk'. “Co-development and production must be ‘co’.    If there is a desire on both sides to co-produce, problems will sort themselves out…or Indians will ask “Do I really need the equipment,    or shall I go elsewhere?...... We have known US to often say: We have our laws, you change yours,”…… said a candid Patney, Director General, CAPS.  Even as the US takes forward talks on NG weapon production, there are many holdups including Ind...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Indian companies may manufacture parts for the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibian under a recent agreement between India and Japan. (Photo: Chris Pocock) September 11, 2014, 11:33 AM With a clear mandate from the 100-day-old government to make aerospace manufacturing a focus area for domestic and export markets, there is renewed interest by manufacturers to be in the forefront. This was clear at a recent conference the Center for Air Power Studies and the Confederation of Indian Industry held in New Delhi. India is taking stock of aerospace manufacturing opportunities that are expected to arise in offsets from the $72 billion worth of contracts signed or about to be signed for work running through 2021. State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics’ ( HAL ) current commitments will keep it busy for the next decade, and private-sector involvement in the manufacturing arena is imm...

Neelam Mathews Sept 20, 2012 The message was clear. A friendly retort by Air Marshal RK Sharma, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, at a conference on Energizing Indian Aerospace Industry co-organised by CII and Center for Air Power Studies expressing his delight that “HAL and the IAF were working together,” said it all.   HAL and IAF -working together! The IAF is known to have expressed its frustration on the slow progress of its projects by HAL, Aerospace Diary has learnt. T Suvarnaraju, Director Design & Development, HAL said problems in the aerospace sector were “structural in nature and not related to ownership….One should also understand that aerospace sector is technologically sensitive and highly regulated by the government.” HAL, ofcourse, we believe, is associated with the government!    The mood at the conference was cautious though the evergreen Air Cmde Jasjit Singh, Director General, CAPS, responsible for the very concept of the conf...

EBACE Convention News » May 16, 2012 by  Neelam Mathews May 15, 2012, 9:45 PM The threat to civil aviation posed by man-portable air defense systems ( Manpads )–such as shoulder launched missiles–in conflict areas around the world is resulting in a requirement for intelligent systems to help counter the attacks. Saab’s Civil Aircraft Missile Protection (Camps) system has increasingly been used to combat such threats, Hannes Prinsloo, technical product manager South Africa for Saab told AIN . Camps is the first and only European anti-Manpads protection system suited for protecting civil fixed-wing aircraft from missile attacks, he said. “Presently, we have a customer in the Middle East. Camps is also installed on a Naturelink Aviation aircraft based in South Africa, flying for the UN,” he added. The system costs $1 million with additional costs for installation. “We get requir...