Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Dec 26, 2012 The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India saw Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of Russian Technologies State Corporation, and Elcom Systems set up in India, a modern industrial facility for manufacturing of Russian helicopter models of the Ka- and Mi- brands. The joint venture will have the capacity to produce key helicopter units and carry out final assembly of the machines as well as engage in ground and flight testing. It is expected that the enterprise will start with production of components for the multirole Ka-226T helicopter. The enterprise will serve as an industrial base for hi-tech Russian rotorcraft products in India, we are informed. "India is a traditional partner of Russian Helicopters in terms of helicopter deliveries. The creation of a joint Russian-Indian enterprise marks a new stage and also a logical continuation of our joint efforts in light of the growing demand for Russian helicopter ...

Neelam Mathews Oct 11, 2012 Aerospace Diary is hearing about talks between India’s Sun Group and Russian Helicopters for Ka-31 which Russian Helicopters says, is “the only mass-produced airborne early warning helicopter on the market.” We could not confirm whether the partnership is for potential manufacture for a possible pilot project to be floated exclusively for private Indian companies or as offsets for a possible potential order for 10 AEWs required for the delayed aircraft carrier Gorshkov , now known as Vikramaditya. Interestingly, we learn Shiv Vikram  Khemka, deputy chairman of the Board of Directors and founder of SUN Group, is an independent non-executive director on the Board of Russian Helicopters. Khemka has over  20 years experience doing business and investing in Russia, Latin America  and India. He has lived and worked in Moscow since 1990 managing the business of SUN Group. Khemka does not own any shares in Russian Helic...

Neelam Mathews Sept 22, 2011 India ’s Tier– 3 suppliers of defense products say business cannot take off till the government relooks at a clause in its offsets policy that does not permit OEMs to get offsets if they do not make the order direct. “We are getting a poor deal as a result. For instance, a foreign OEM now gives the order to a company like Tata that has a host of companies with different products. This gives the OEM benefit of offsets instead of having to source it through its partner……The products are more expensive and the benefits are not coming down to tier 3 suppliers as a result,” says Pradip Mehta, Senior Advisor, Elcom Systems, a subsidiary of the Sun Group. Mehta says the defense industry is increasingly getting dominated by large companies like L&T, Godrej, Tata and Mahindra. Elcom Systems has ambitions to join the OEM value chain for India and internationally. It is looking at manufacturing components, harnesses and avionics to tap the opportunity th...