It is not that India’s attraction is just its huge market. There are several strengths and the world leadership has acknowledged these strengths and solidified bilateral relationships.

In quick succession, Heads of Stat e of leading powers have visited India and the visits continue. Beginning with the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron; followed by the US President, Barack Obama; and now the French President Nicholas Sarkozy, India has garnered all the attention. Soon the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are expected. Some of these high-level visits captured in visuals (see Pictorial pages) point to one thing—India has truly emerged as a power to reckon with.

It is not that India’s attraction is just its huge market. There are several strengths and the world leadership has acknowledged these and solidified bilateral relationships. The visits have firmed up many deals. Air Marshal V.K. Bhatia gives insight into the strategic acquisitions of 10 C-17 Globemaster III heavy airlifters with an option for additional six later. Prior to that, India firmed up with General Electric for F414-GE-400 engine for the Tejas MK II programme.

In the interview with Rick McCrary of Boeing, the executive highlights the Super Hornet Block II as the most comprehensive and diversified multi-role capabilities on a single platform. The Super Hornet is in the race for the medium multi-role combat aircraft acquisition of the Indian Air Force. Along with massive equipment modernisation, the IAF is going in for upgradation of airfield and helipad infrastructure, which Air Marshal J.N. Burma has elaborated on.

In this issue, John Fagnant, Director of ISR and Targeting Strategy, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, talks about the features of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology. The executive forecasts future developments, costs and common radar heritage.

In the realm of civil aviation, the traffic movement has been very buoyant. About 45 million domestic passengers flew in 2009 and the target for 2020 is 100 million, mostly driven by the secondary cities, opening up major avenues to regional jet manufacturers. In the article on “A Booming Market”, R. Chandrakanth examines the scope of the low-to-medium density markets in India and how the regional jet manufacturers are positioning themselves. Around the same time, airlines increased domestic airfares by 30 to 40 per cent, inviting the wrath of the government and also the paying public. Subsequently, there have been fare revisions, but it pointed to the growth momentum in the civil aviation sector. Paramount Airways is resuming operations soon and Air Marshal B.K. Pandey takes us through the troubled airline’s plans.

Regional jet players are actively pursuing programmes to gain substantial market access. In the article “Specialised and Amphibious”, Bombardier’s special mission aircraft is the focus. The OEM has designed, built and delivered over 300 special mission aircraft since 1965 when a Learjet 23 flew a tactical training mission for the US Air Force. Today, the Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets and Q-Series turboprop airliners provide a full spectrum of special mission capabilities.

On the aspirational side, Joseph Noronha puts us on a supersonic civilian airliner, though it is still many years away, but considerable research is going on. Since the whole idea of air travel is to reach distant destinations without delay, the faster it goes the better.

With this Year End Special Issue highlighting key happenings around the year (Snapshots 2010), SP’s Aviation celebrates its 13th anniversary. Happy Reading and Happy Holidays!