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From Daily Pioneer:
The fifth Aero India Show organised at Bangalore from February 9 to 13 showcased India as the major aviation hub in Asia. The Indian aviation sector pie is as big as China's, and with its opening up, international aviation companies from America, Russia, Israel, France and Britain made their presence felt in large numbers. For example, the Americans increased their display area from 400 sq metres in Aero India 2003 to 1200 sq metres in 2005. Aiding the emergence of Bangalore as the new Asian hub for civil and military aircrafts display are three factors:

First, the Western countries have imposed an arms embargo on China. They also remain hesitant to transfer sophisticated technologies to many fundamentalist Islamic regimes that dot the Asian landscape. This has placed constraints on sales by Western companies, making Indian market extremely attractive. Second, Russia under Mr Vladimir Putin is not keen to transfer hi-tech to China. In long term they visualise this will be counter-productive. Third, and possibly the most vital factor, is that HAL, the Indian aviation giant, is fast converting itself into a global one-stop shop for international aeronautical needs. Couple this with New Delhi's determination to groom India's Aerospace industries as a major player that could position the show as the biggest in Asia in the near future.

With Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi declaring that India will acquire 125 multi-role aircrafts, various vendors including F-16, Swedish Grippen, Russian Su-30 MKI and MiG Corporation and French Mirage-2000 are vying with each other to bag part of the order. Meanwhile, Indian aerospace industries are developing successful collaborations with the international community. 'Cheetal' a derivative of the earlier 'Cheetah' helicopter with a new engine climbed to a height of 25,150 feet setting a world record. HAL's 'Dhruv' is in the running if Malaysia decides to renew its helicopter fleet. Dhruv came in for close scrutiny when Prime Minister Badwai visited HAL's Bangalore complex in December last. HAL renders services to their aircraft maintenance agency AIROD besides supporting Malaysia's SU-30 MKM procured from Russia. With both countries having shared perceptions of their security, such strategic tie-ups are set to multiply.

While US's participation in Aero India 2005 is the best to date, it did not include F-16 Fighters out of deference to the sensitivity of their non-NATO ally Pakistan. Live and static displays of US military aircraft were restricted to the F-15 Eagle, C-130J Hercules carrier aircraft and the maritime surveillance aircraft P-3C Orion - all from Lockheed Martin, the makers of the F-16. Incidentally, both C-130J and P-3C remain on India's radar for purchase.

The deepening Indo-French strategic ties witnessed a growing presence of French companies in Bangalore. Snecma today equips most of the non-Russian aircraft in the Indian inventory with their engines. Also, equipment such as landing gears and brakes and engines for fighter and trainer aircrafts like Mirage-2000, Jaguar and Hawk are from the same stable. Their CFM56 engines, a joint product of Snecma and GE, powers Boeing 737 of Jet Airways and Sahara, and has been selected by Indian Airlines for its future fleet of medium range Airbus acquisitions. Similarly, DELMIA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault located in Bangalore, designs and markets a comprehensive suite of digital manufacturing software to major aviation and other companies worldwide.

With Alexey Federov, the legendary aviation guru - synonymous with success of Su-30 MKI - after taking over MiG Corporation has successfully put MiG 29K on schedule. MiG 29K is fast emerging as the protective umbrella for the aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, enhancing Russian presence and making them formidable contenders in the hottest aviation market. Majestic flights by MiG-29M-2 during the show dispelled all doubts and rejuvenated MiG's staying power in the Indian market.

Last but not the least, a small market savvy country - the size of Mizoram - is out pacing rapidly every other contender on the Indian horizon. Israel in swift moves has developed synergies with India and joint marketing deals for global sales of HAL's 120 Dhruv helicopter. The Navy swears by Barak missiles, the Air Force is humming with superior Israeli electronics and the Army is finding their sensors and ground surveillance radars a boon. Indo-Israel relationship is set to spawn another success story like Indo-Russian partnership.

The successful presentation and the efficiency displayed at the Show by MoD deserves special mention. Presence of CNS and the COAS along with their naval and army aviation elements in support of the IAF implied that consolidation of the defence services prowess is underway. But above all, the air show proved that India is emerging as the most sought after aviation market in Asia. New Delhi, therefore, needs to fashion a two-pronged strategy. The first prong should enable major international players to buy substantial stakes in our market that can be politically leveraged.

The second prong must ensure that we develop export access for our military-industrial products to other players' market thereby creating reverse dependencies, which are mutually beneficial. Fashioning such a strategy is possible if New Delhi keeps in view what General Sun Tzu had suggested many centuries ago: "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory" and "tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat".

By  pradeep, at 2:54 AM 

super...

By  saranyan r, at 4:50 PM 

I think we ought to do something like this. Awesome effort by all concerned and good post.

By  The Last Blogger, at 8:33 PM 

Thanks guys.
Kudos to BR team.

By  pradeep, at 9:19 PM 

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