INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
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SP's Aviation - ISSUE No 06-13

Issue Features

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  Why MMRCA?
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  By 2003, the IAF was to be supplied with the LCA Tejas, to replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 FL. As there was no certainty of the Tejas being available in the committed time frame, the gap needed to be bridged till the Tejas would be made available...

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  BREAKING NEWS

  New DRDO Chief pushes emergency button on Project Tejas
  By SP’s Special Correspondent

  The DRDO’s new Director General, Dr Avinash Chander, has activated Code Red on Project Tejas...

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  RFP out for major Avro replacement programme
  By SP’s Special Correspondent

  After an abortive attempt to make it an indigenously-led modernisation effort that could set an example...

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  Priority re-think on Project AMCA
  By SP’s Special Correspondent

  Major and ongoing delays in the light combat aircraft programme have finally reached a point where the Defence Ministry has put a dam on the AMCA fifth-generation fighter effort...

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  Turbomeca to power HAL's light copter
  By SP’s Special Correspondent

  After a protracted effort to identify a suitable engine for the in-development light utility helicopter (LUH), the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

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  IAF for Six more C-130Js, type crosses million flight hours globally
  By SP’s Special Correspondent

  The IAF cannot wait to get its next six Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules medium transport aircraft...

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  Business Aviation - Hope Amidst Despair
  By Group Captain (Retd) A.K. Sachdev

  A change in perception about business aviation is not only overdue, but also a necessity in the challenging times the Indian economy is passing through

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  Regional Aviation - Options Aplenty
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha

  The Indian Government plans to encourage regional flights to about 80 Tier-III and Tier-IV destinations by auctioning these unenticing routes to the airlines.

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  Helicopters - Growing Appetite
  By R. Chandrakanth

  The civil helicopter is increasingly finding its way into corporate aviation, tourism, medical evacuation, VIP travel, election campaigning, policing...

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  EBACE 2013 - Industry Rallies Together
  By R. Chandrakanth

  The three-day event featured static display of 52 aircraft, education sessions as also maintenance and operations sessions.

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  Paris Air Show - Curtain Raiser
  By Sucheta Das Mohapatra

  The 2013 Paris Air Show will once again act as a catalyst for international partnerships, serve as a networking platform for industry decision-makers and an ideal place to exhibit...

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  Evelyn Bryan Johnson (1909-2012)
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha, Goa

  Check rides were a passion for her. In all, she gave over 9,000 check rides, more than any other examiner. Despite the colossal flying experience, she never wrecked an aircraft.

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  A word from Editor-in-Chief
  By Jayant Baranwal - Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

  The defence procurement process appears to remain mired in controversy leading to excruciating delays and often cancellation of tenders sometimes even in the last minute.

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  New DPP 2013 comes into force
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2013 aims to balance the competing requirements of speedy procurement, developing indigenous defence industry and conforming to the highest standards of transparency, probity and public accountability, the Defence Ministry said in a release.

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  RAF's Grob-115E Tutor aircraft grounded
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  The Royal Air Force (RAF) has had to ground the entire fleet of training aircraft following two incidents when propellers came off in mid-flight, meaning they have been unable to teach new pilots for almost five months now. Defence sources have described the grounding of the Grob-115E Tutor aircraft as a ‘complete fiasco’.

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  The Only Way Forward
  By Air Marshal (Retd) Anil Chopra

  The Indian industry does not have the wherewithal and the foreign companies know that the largest importer of arms hardly has the required technological or manufacturing base. Both have thus come together to pressurise for increase in FDI.

• Raising FDI Cap
  By Air Marshal (Retd) Anil Chopra

  The record high current account deficit, which is expected to touch around five per cent of GDP in the current financial year, has accentuated the need for the steady inflow of capital. But will the government be able to push through FDI in a sensitive sector such as defence, in the pre-election year?

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  Engaging Private Players
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  If most of the global aerospace majors are in private hands, why is it not so in India? But despite the indigenisation mantra the MoD has been chanting for some time now, the systemic reforms to facilitate entry of the private sector into defence production continue to remain a distant dream.