Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Aug 14, 2014   Recently, while visiting the head office of a US publication I write for regularly, I was surprised to hear myself as was my editor, to hear me wax eloquent on the new government and its plans and how we as Indians finally saw hope on the horizon. For a person reporting deals and scams for the past few years, this was a transformation, and the editors eagerly offered me numerous assignments. Digging a bit deeper for my stories, I sadly found the same bureaucratic mindset and stubbornness to change and a ministry making unofficial leaks, ensuring journos hear their point of view alone. Twitter and a news agency is now the government’s mouthpiece and they do not reply to queries! Dear lord- this administrative inertia is what I had not voted for! I had voted for a promised change in policies to push India ahead, a fresh mindset and a freedom of expression- within limits of course. All this was reinforced after I read a story on Rol...

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Along with Thailand’s Board of Investment, Amata Corp., a developer and manager of industrial parks in Southeast Asia already established in Bangkok, Chonburi and Rayong, as well as in Vietnam, has big plans for an aerospace cluster in Thailand, which could include MRO facilities serving airlines such as Thai Airways. July 15, 2014, 6:20 AM In view of its success in nurturing a thriving automobile industry–the ninth largest in the world–and as Asia edges toward becoming the world’s largest growth market for aviation, Thailand’s Board of Investment ( BOI ) is considering building an aerospace industry starting with Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers servicing global  OEM supply chains. The  ASEAN  Economic Community ( AEC ) regional economic integration plan envisions establishment of a single market and production base by 2015. Thailand already has an $800 million a...

A INONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Hawk trainer engines are at the heart of an inquiry that is being held into Rolls-Royce dealings in India. (Photo: BAE Systems) March 6, 2014, 8:00 AM India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation into Rolls-Royce military deals. The investigation began just a day before the announcement of forthcoming elections and the beginning of the “model code of conduct” that disallows announcement of new projects. The probe follows a voluntary disclosure last December by Rolls-Royce to its partner Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ( HAL ) that it had used a consultant, Singapore-based Aashmore, for sales and logistics support in its business in the energy sector. While civil and military projects generally do not overlap, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has nevertheless put on hold the repair, overhaul and supply of Adour Mk 871 engines for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy  BAE  Syst...

Neelam Mathews March 3, 2014 Defense Minister A.K Antony, is likely to go down in the history of India's defense as the most ineffective and perhaps most disliked in the military for his apathy to defense requirements resulting in some cases, in tragedy and insecurity of the forces he commands. A recent instance is the submarine battery issue resulting in the death of two young men. Antony has gone ahead and proven how not to move on papers and in his zest to come out clean, how to freeze the world's largest democracy's defense modernization program. We've become the laughing stock today. For anybody who loses a contract or has a stake, all it calls for a 'complaint,' to put a project on hold.  Isn't it time for us to have some confidence in our own systems, in our own technical evaluation, in our people rather than declaring a project frozen following a news report abroad? It's time for some guidelines. Time to know when to freeze a project, when...

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications Rolls-Royce   -  Delhi -Delhi -India (New Delhi Area, India) Job Description ROLE PROFILE The successful candidate will be responsible for building and defending the reputation of Rolls-Royce in India in support of the company?s business objectives. A key member of the Corporate Affairs team in Asia Pacific, interaction with the Regional Directors and CFBU in country teams is critical to success of the role. The role will report to the Head of Communications, Asia Pacific & the Middle East, with a dotted line to the Regional Director of India. Portfolio markets · Key market: India · Watch & brief markets: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Purpose To support the Head of Communications, Asia Pacific & the Middle East in the delivery of corporate communications that help shape the environment in which the company does business and to manage the perceptions of key external stakeholders. Key priorities are: · Raise awareness of t...

Neelam Mathews Oct 5, 2012 Nothing is a breeze in India. But good news does tend to creep in.  The RFP for the Jaguar re-engining to Honeywell will be out by the end of this month, Chief of Air Staff NAK Browne told Aerospace Diary today at a press conference held before the celebration of the IAFs 80 th anniversary on Oct 8. It may be recalled in February 2011, Rolls Royce withdrew from the bid  to upgrade 120-twin engined Jaguars that have the Adour Mk821 engine. The bid had called for a new engine, not an upgraded one as was expected by Rolls. ( http://aerospacediary.blogspot.in/2011/02/rolls-royce-pulls-out-of-jaguar-engine.html ) . The Jaguars have become overweight and underpowered and will now have the Honeywell F125IN engine.    

Posted by - Neelam Mathews Aug 22, 2012 Rolls-Royce has secured an £8 million contract to design and power a highly specialised buoy tender vessel for India. The vessel will be operating in remote waters off the east coast of India and around the Andaman & Nicobar Islands maintaining and replacing navigational aids and buoys, says Rolls Royce. The vessel will be built at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd. in India, and is due for delivery in 2015.  The buoy tender vessel is a Rolls-Royce UT 755 S, which is a development of the well proven UT 755 series. In addition to the design, Rolls-Royce will also supply the main engines, propulsion system, automation and control system, deck machinery and shaft generators. Cochin Shipyard Ltd. has previously built over 20 Rolls-Royce designed vessels.

Pratt & Whitney update by president FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW  »  JULY 10, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS July 10, 2012, 3:00 PM After generating $12.7 billion in revenue in 2011 and having won the first three launch orders for the  Airbus A320neo re-engined narrowbody , Pratt  &  Whitney president David Hess was naturally in an upbeat mood when he faced reporters at the show yesterday. Asked about the move by P&W and  MTU  earlier this year to purchase Rolls-Royce’s share in the International Aero Engines, he replied, “The acquisition will simplify our global market strategy [to] align with our partners and…optimize deals for the A320.” This week Hess was named as board chairman of  IAE . He said Rolls-Royce remains “an important part” of  IAE  in supporting legacy engines, adding that preparations are under way to switch the production line to focus on the new Pratt  & ...

ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS MAY / JUNE 2012 With air transport operations ballooning throughout Asia, it is little wonder that OEMs and third-party  providers are expanding MRO facilities across the region. In fact Asia’s MRO market is projected to reach  parity with that of the Americas and Europe by 2021. But which are the real growth zones? Neelam Matthews reports Things are moving in Asia. Rolls-Royce opened its first ever purpose-built field services hub at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to support the company’s growing civil aerospace customer base in South East Asia including Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia X. It’s just part of a global MRO trend to be close to growing Asian customers. “The facility (at KLIA) will be the focal point of all our civil large-engine support in Malaysia,” Mark McGuinness, Chief Service Representative, Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said. "And it will play an increasing important role in the surro...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Feb 13, 2012 Singapore Constructed on a 154,000 square meter site it is the first of its kind to bring advanced aerospace high-value manufacturing technology to Singapore. The Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus includes an Assembly and Test Unit; a Wide Chord Fan Blade manufacturing facility; an Advanced Technology Centre; and a Regional Training Centre. The Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus represents an investment of over S$700 million and will significantly increase the Group’s manufacturing capacity and proximity to customers in the Asia Pacific region. The investment will create over 500 new jobs, bringing the number of people employed by Rolls-Royce in Singapore to over 2,000. It is expected that the Group’s value-added contribution in Singapore will increase from 0.3% of GDP currently, to 0.5% of the GDP projected in 2015. Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, officially opened the Rolls-Royce facilities, accompanied by Sir Simon Robertson, Chairman, Ro...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Oct 15, 2011 Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have signed an agreement to form a new partnership to power future mid-size aircraft (120 – 230 passenger aircraft). The two companies will establish a joint venture company, in which each will hold an equal share, to develop new engines for the next generation of aircraft that will replace the existing mid-size fleet.  Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney will also restructure their participation in IAE, which produces the V2500 engine. Under the terms of the agreement Rolls-Royce will sell its equity and program shares in IAE to Pratt & Whitney for $1.5 billion and in addition receive an agreed payment for each hour flown by the current installed fleet of V2500-powered aircraft for 15 years from completion of the transaction. The new venture will cater to this fast growing segment in which worldwide demand for around 20,000 new aircraft (or nearly 45,000 engines) is predicted over the next 20 ye...