Air Chief flies LCA Tejas
CHIEF OF THE AIR Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa took to the skies in Yelahanka over Bengaluru city in the indigenously designed and developed aircraft LCA Mk I Tejas at 1645 hours on February 14, 2017. The Air Chief Marshal flew with Air Vice Marshal A.P. Singh, the Principal Director Test Flight of the National Flight Test Centre Air. During the sortie, Chief of the Air Staff demonstrated the operational capability of the aircraft which included agility, manoeuvrability and advanced interface of avionics. The profile included general handling, air-to-air and ground attack patterns.
The Air Chief Marshal was impressed by its capability expressing his faith in the programme. The Tejas aircraft has achieved initial operational clearance (IOC) and has been inducted into the Indian Air Force.
RAFAEL, RELIANCE TIE-UP
Israeli company Rafael with cutting-edge technologies in air defence systems has tied up with Reliance to manufacture air defence systems. The Deputy General Manager, Colonel Joseph Horowitz (Retd) told SP’s Aviation that delegations from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force had visited the pavilion and expressed interest in the air defence systems — Iron Dome and C-Dome. He said the Iron Dome since its launch in 2011 had destroyed over 1,700 enemy rockets. “We cannot find any missile in the world with such a strike rate of 90 per cent.”
ROCKWELL COLLINS PRESENTS ADVANCED AVIONICS
Rockwell Collins presented Pro Line Fusion — Integrated flight deck leveraging advanced commercial technology for military platforms; Unmanned Aerial Systems — For enhanced situational awareness, surveillance, navigation and communications; Patrol Persistent Surveillance System (PPSS) — Scalable integrated sensor solution to protect from perimeter breach; Modernised HF — IP over Wideband HF communications for interoperable air, sea and land applications, disaster relief and border protection
ALPHA DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES CREATES BUZZ
Bengaluru-based Alpha Design Technologies Private Limited, specialising in R&D and manufacture of defence and space related equipment and system, has shown the mettle of what an Indian company can do with great vision and determination, led by Colonel H.S. Shankar, the founder and Chairman and Managing Director. Alpha Design Technologies not only took huge amount of stall space at the show, it also struck many deals with domestic and overseas companies that are going to further transform defence technologies. It has submitted a bid in response to the Indian Army's request for information for new software define radios (SDRs), which are intended to boost the service's network-centric warfare capabilities. Alpha also signed a $30-million contract with Elbit Systems for the Indian Air Force’s 90 MI-17 helicopter upgrade programme.
BEL PRESENTS RANGE OF ELECTRONICS
BEL showcased its wide range of capabilities at spanning every domain of its business — Electronic warfare and avionics; C4I systems and solutions; communication systems; electro-optics; radars; energy shelters and missile systems, besides demonstrating R&D capabilities. Electronic warfare & airborne products on display include avionics for light combat aircraft (LCA), lightweight ESM system for helicopters and LRUs for Rustom unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
DRDO LOOKING AT AIRBUS A330 PLATFORM
The Chairman of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Dr S. Christopher said that DRDO was in discussion with Airbus for the A330 platform for the airborne early warning and control systems ( AEW&CS) in the wide-body category. It would go to the Defence Acquistion Council and followed by the Cabinet Committee on Security. The first of DRDOdeveloped AEW &CS which flew at Aero India is on Embraer 145 platform. The second aircraft would be in June with full and final configuration.
Wherever and whenever the single air show would be held, it would certainly be bigger comprising both military and civil segments. Obviously, this would call for greater and more efficient way of organising an air show of such mammoth proportions. India is certainly on the move!