From this issue on, SP’s Aviation will reach you every month. Smartly packaged, we look forward to your feedback on the new, sleek design. Better still, come speak your mind at the SP’s cote in Defexpo 2008.

Quarterly in 1998, bimonthly in 2006 and from this year, monthly—rarely has a journal made the transition in such short time span, with so much dexterity. Then again, the precedence set by SP’s Aviation in its ambitious drive to evolve and grow calls for extraordinary pace, a pace fuelled by a sense of immense satisfaction to respond to demands from readers and industry to increase frequency.

Quite by coincidence, this issue also comes at the juncture of Defexpo 2008, India’s largest defence exhibition which will be held amid the buzz created by the Indian Air Force’s proposed ambitious MMRCA acquisition and—this you get to hear from us first—the momentous conclusion of a deal to acquire six C-130J from American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

Yet another positive development has been the silver lining that has surfaced from the despondent cloud left in the wake of the scuttled Eurocopter deal. Amid insinuations of murky goings-on and the clamour for clarification, the Defence Minister has sprung an even bigger deal, this time for 317 helicopters for both the army and, yes, the air force. Surely the move would curry several advantages, foremost being leveraging India’s position as a buyer in terms of unit costs because of the increased numbers. Despite the coin throwing up a positive face, the probing questions as to why the initial deal fell through refuse to die down. Was there some extraneous pressure? Reportedly the wrong machines had been tested and so, if middle-men were involved, what were the overseeing agencies doing?

Holding their own against such a veritable lineup of significant developments are stories delving into India’s growing amity with France, the boost to pilot training programmes in India with the arrival of Textron Inc. through its subsidiary, Cessna Pilot Centre, and the hunt for a sterling maritime patrol aircraft homing in on the Boeing’s P-8I and EADS’ Airbus A319. Addressing the civil aviation industry’s overriding concerns for foolproof safety and adequate funding are two incisive pieces throwing up a clear picture of the inherent potentials and constraints.

No coverage of the civil aviation sector can be complete without a mention of the turbulence in the NACIL, or Air India as it is better known, even as it embarks on a hunt for a successor to current CMD V. Thulasidas who is due to retire in March. On a succinct note, the Last Word stresses on the only solution: privatisation.

See you at Defexpo 2008, Pragati Maidan, Hall 18, Stand 40 from February 16 to 19.