Current Affairs Date: 08 July 2023

⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 14th edition of Asia’s biggest aero show – Aero India 2023 – at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru on February 13, 2023.

• • A commemorative stamp was also released by the Prime Minister on the occasion.

The Biennial event of Aero India 2023 was held at Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bengaluru from 13-17 February 2023. The February 13th to 15th were business days, while 16th & 17th were public days for the public to witness the show.

Theme of Aero India 2023

The theme of Aero India 2023 was ‘The Runway to a Billion Opportunities‘.

Focus

The five-day event showcased India’s growth in aerospace and defence capabilities. In line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’, the event was focused on displaying indigenous equipment/technologies and forging partnerships with foreign companies.

About the event

• • Aero India 2023 was organised in a total area of around 35,000 sqm, the event was the biggest-ever till date.
  • The Defence Ministers of 32 countries, Air Chiefs of 29 countries and 73 CEOs of global and Indian OEMs attended the event.
  • Aero India 2023 witnessed participation by more than 80 countries along with 800 defence companies including around 100 foreign and 700 Indian companies.
  • Ministers of about 30 countries and 65 CEOs of global and Indian OEMs participated in Aero India 2023.

Major exhibitors & equipment

Major exhibitors in Aero India 2023 included Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industry, BrahMos Aerospace, Army Aviation, HC Robotics, SAAB, Safran, Rolls Royce, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and BEML Limited.

• • Further, the event promoted the export of indigenous air platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas, HTT-40, Dornier Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).
  • The event also helped in integrating domestic MSMEs and start-ups in the global supply chain and attract foreign investments including partnerships for co-development and co-production.

Defence Ministers’ Conclave

» Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh hosted the Defence & Deputy Defence Ministers of 27 countries at the Defence Ministers’ Conclave held on the sidelines of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru on February 14, 2023.

Theme of the conclave:

The broad theme of the conclave was ‘Shared Prosperity through Enhanced Engagements in Defence’ (SPEED).

• • It sought to address aspects related to deepening cooperation for capacity building (through investments, R&D, joint ventures, co-development, co-production and provisioning of defence equipment), training, space, AI and maritime security to grow together.
  • Over 160 delegates from several countries, including Defence & Deputy Defence Ministers from 27 countries, 15 Defence and Service Chiefs and 12 Permanent Secretaries from 80 countries participated in the conclave attesting to India’s tremendous growth and engagement in the defence and security sectors.

Bilateral meetings

On the sidelines of Aero India 2023, a number of bilateral meetings were held at the levels of Raksha Mantri, Raksha Rajya Mantri, Chief of Defence Staff and Defence Secretary among others. The focus was on bolstering the defence & aerospace ties with friendly countries by exploring newer avenues to take the partnership to the next level.

CEOs Round Table

» The ‘CEOs Round Table’, under the chairmanship of the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, was held on 13th February.

He addressed over 70 CEOs of local and global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) during a Round Table.

CEOs Round Table Theme:

The CEOs Round Table was organised on the theme ‘Sky is not the limit: opportunities beyond boundaries.’

• • The participating companies included Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industries, General Atomics, Liebherr Group, Raytheon Technologies, Safran, General Authority of Military Industries, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, BEML Limited, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge, Dynamatic Technologies and BrahMos Aerospace.
  • This platform was to forge partnerships between domestic and global Industries of the aerospace and defence sector to address the present and future global needs and discuss the importance of supply chain strategy and operations as the world deals with the aftermath of the pandemic and global disruptions.
  • More than 75 companies, including 28 foreign OEMs from 15 countries and domestic companies & DPSUs participated in the discussion. There was official participation from Countries of Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
  • The significance of roundtable discussion as “dialogue between equals” was emphasised.

Bandhan ceremony

» The Bandhan ceremony, which witnessed signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) /Agreements, Transfer of Technologies, Product Launches and other major announcements, was held on February 15th.

Record 75 per cent (approx. Rs one lakh crore) of the defence capital procurement budget has been earmarked for domestic industry in Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, up from 68 per cent in 2022-23. This was announced by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh during the Bandhan ceremony. In FY 2023-24, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been allocated a total Budget of Rs 5.94 lakh crore, which is 13.18 per cent of the total budget (Rs 45.03 lakh crore). Capital outlay pertaining to modernisation and infrastructure development has been increased to Rs 1.63 lakh crore. The Raksha Mantri presided over the event.

The Bandhan ceremony also witnessed the forging of 266 partnerships including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, nine product launches and three Transfers of Technology, worth around Rs 80,000 crore.

Major agreements:

• • MoU between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Safran Helicopter Engines, France for Work Share for formation of Joint venture for Design, Development, Manufacture and life time support of Helicopter Engines.
  • MoU between Bharat Electronics Ltd and Aeronautical Development Agency on IWBC and Other LRUs for Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
  • Co-operation between BSS Material Limited and Pegasus Engineering, an ADUSEA Inc. Division (USA) for Logistic Drones for the Indian Army towards Last Mile Delivery for forward troops deployed along the border areas with capability of operation in wind/gust condition, rain/Snow etc.
  • MoU between Gopalan Aerospace India Pvt. Ltd. and Omnipol, Czech Republic for manufacturing and assembling of 1st passenger aircraft (L 410 UVP-E20 version) by a private company in India.
  • MoU on collaboration of Sagar Defence Engineering Private Limited (SDEPL) & Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for IDEX Challenge “Autonomous Weaponized boat Swarm” for Indian Navy.
  • MoU between Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bultexpro Ltd., Bulgaria for setting up the manufacturing facilities for 122mm GRAD BM ER and NONER rockets in India and fulfill the requirements (including ToT).
  • MoU between GRSE and Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH (MTU) for License production with localization of the MTU 16V4000M73L engine to support the indigenous content for the Next Generation Fast Attack Craft vessel for Indian Navy.
  • BEML enters into License Agreement for Transfer of Technology (ToT) with R&DEE, DRDO for development and supply of TRAWL Assembly for T-72/T-90 Tanks.
  • ToT of Shakti EW System from DLRL DRDO to BEL Hyderabad Unit for all system units, Bill of Material, Test procedures, integration & offering methodology.
  • MoU between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Elta Systems Limited, Israel for cooperation on future Business in Maritime Patrol Radar (MPR) for Indian Platforms.

Products:

• • Vertically Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (Bharat Dynamics Limited): VLSRSAM is a next-generation, ship-based, all-weather, air defence weapon which can be used by Navy as a quick reaction point defence against supersonic sea skimming targets like aircraft and UAVs. The Missile has a smokeless propulsion system with all-weather capability. It has a highly agile configuration with state-of-the-art Electronic Counter-Counter Measures features.
  • SAL Seeker ATGM for BMP II (Bharat Dynamics Limited): Semi-Active Laser Seeker based Anti-Tank Guided Missile for BMP-II is a subsonic missile with a range of 4,000 metres and flight time of 25 seconds. The missile weighs 23 kgs with the launch tube and can be used in different kinds of terrains to incapacitate the moving and stationary targets such as tanks and Infantry Combat Vehicles.
  • Jishnu (Bharat Dynamics Limited): Jishnu, a Drone Delivered Missile, is light weight and miniaturised missile targeted for soft-skinned targets. It has a range of 1.5 km with a flight time of 9 seconds. The missile can be semi-automatic or completely autonomous based on the systems configurations.
  • Software defined NAVIC/GPS receiver module based on indigenously-developed processors (Astra Microwave Products Limited).
  • Indigenously-built ‘Counter Drone Radar’ based on technology from DRDO (Astra Microwave Products Limited). 
  • 9 mm sub-sonic ammunition (Munitions India Limited).
  • BFT on Ios (ideaForge Technology Limited): BlueFire Touch BlueFire Touch, our Ground Control Station (GCS) software, is built to plan and command both mapping and surveillance missions with the ability to pre-plan missions based on operational area and target locations via waypoint-based navigation.
  • HF SDR Radio (Bharat Electronics Limited): It is an advanced software defined radio. The radio is lightweight 20 W transmit capable radio. It provides a complete solution to the short-range communication requirements in the crowded HF band and long-range communications beyond line of sight.
  • Goniometer (Bharat Electronics Limited): It is part of any integrated observation and fire control monitoring system for day time or night time use by the Artillery.

Manthan

» The annual defence innovation event, Manthan, the flagship technology showcase event was held on 15th February.

Organized by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the Manthan platform brought the leading innovators, start-ups, MSMEs, incubators, academia and Investors from defence & aerospace ecosystem under one roof.

The Raksha Mantri presided over the event. Speaking at the Start-Up Manthan at Aero India 2023, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh equated Start-ups with new energy, new commitment and new enthusiasm.

Manthan 2023 provided an overview on the future vision/next initiatives of iDEX to galvanise the start-up ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in the defence sector.

Manthan had many firsts, including launch of challenges on Cyber Security, establishment of iDEX Investor Hub, MoUs with investors etc.

9th edition of Defence India Startup Challenges (DISC 9) on “Cybersecurity”:

» Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh also launched the Ninth edition of Defence India Startup Challenges (DISC 9) on “Cybersecurity” with 28 problem statements, and the iDEX Investor Hub (iIH).

DISC 9 is the first collaboration of iDEX with Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (i4C) division of Ministry of Home Affairs.

• • These challenges have been curated from Services, DPSUs, and Ministry of Home Affairs, revealing the deep impact and interest iDEX has generated amongst our Defence industry.
  • Innovators showcased futuristic technology developments in the domains of Autonomous Systems, Advanced Sensors, Space Technology, and Industry 4.0 at a static exhibition of start-ups supported by iDEX-DIO.

The ‘iDEX Investor Hub’ aims to accelerate investment in the Defence sector and give investors a unified view of opportunities and innovations.

• • Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) also signed MoUs with leading investors at Manthan. Another MoU was signed with Axis Bank. DIO has also signed MoUs with ISRO, IN-SPACe, and ISpA to further strengthen the Defence Space. Another MoU was signed with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to potentially launch start-up challenges in the future.
  • The fourth edition of Innovate4Defence internship (i4D) was also launched, inviting applications from students all over India.

Raksha Mantri also released the Indian Army’s compendium of 110 Problem Statements for indigenous defence research, design, development and manufacturing ecosystem. The Problem Statements highlight Indian Army’s technological challenges and requirements in various domains ranging from Armament, Surveillance & Fire Control Systems to niche domains such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Metaverse, Robotics, Quantum Technology, Cyber, Smartisation of Ammunition etc.

• • Further, they also involve induction of new technologies, upgradation of existing systems & indigenisation of critical components.
  • iDEX-DIO also signed its 200th contract with a winner of the Indian Navy Prime challenge launched under the SPRINT initiative.

India Pavilion

» The ‘India Pavilion’, based on the ‘Fixed Wing Platform’ theme, showcased India’s growth in the area, including the future prospects.

• • There was a total of 115 companies, displaying 227 products.
  • It further showcased the growth of India in developing an ecosystem for Fixed Wing platform which includes the demonstration of various structural modules, simulators, systems (LRUs) etc of LCA-Tejas aircraft being produced by Private Partners.
  • A full scale LCA-Tejas aircraft in Full Operational Capability (FOC) configuration was at the centre stage of India Pavilion. LCA Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter.

Karnataka Pavilion

Aero India 2023 had a separate Karnataka pavilion showcasing the opportunities available in the state to the participants.

Seminars

» A number of seminars were held during the five-day event.

The themes included ‘Harnessing Potential of Ex-servicemen for Indian Defence Industry; India’s Defence Space Initiative: Opportunities for shaping Indian private space ecosystem; Indigenous development of futuristic aerospace technologies, including aero engines; Destination Karnataka: US-India defence cooperation innovation and Make in India; Advancement in maritime surveillance equipment and assets; sustenance in MRO and Obsolescence Mitigation and achieving excellence in defence grade drones and Aatmanirbharta in Aero Armament Sustenance.

14th Aero India International Seminar on ‘Aerospace and Defence Technologies-Way Forward’:

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) organised 14th Aero India International Seminar on ‘Aerospace and Defence Technologies-Way Forward’ in Bengaluru on 12 February.

• • Aero India International Seminar 2023 ‘Aerospace and Defence Technologies-Way Forward’ provided excellent exposure to all participating professionals by bringing together the best in the field from across the world.
  • Several innovative ideas were exchanged for the benefit of all the participants.
  • The seminar also provided opportunity for extensive interaction and dissemination of information among scientists, industry partners, services, academia etc.
  • The seminar covered a wide range of topics including novel research in Composites, Futuristic Power and Propulsion Technology, Machine Learning models in complex airborne systems, verification of AI systems, high end aerospace instrumentation and emerging trends in airborne surveillance technologies etc.
  • During the day, there were three technical sessions conducted. A panel discussion on “The Perspectives of Research and Development in Aerospace and Defence sectors in India for next 25 years”, was also conducted.

Seminar on ‘Indigenous Development of ‘Futuristic Aerospace Technologies including Way Forward for Development of Indigenous Aero Engines’:

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) organised a seminar titled ‘Indigenous Development of ‘Futuristic Aerospace Technologies including Way Forward for Development of Indigenous Aero Engines’, as part of 14th Aero India on 14 February.

» During the seminar, organised by DRDO’s Aeronautical Research and Development Board (AR&DB), the Raksha Mantri handed over the Health Usage & Monitoring System for MIG29K developed through Technology Development Fund (TDF) to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade.

• • The DRDO in association with Smart Machines and Structures, Hyderabad under the TDF scheme has indigenously developed the Health Usage Monitoring System for the MiG29K with Technical handholding of DRDO and Users.
  • This solution uses machine learning and data analytics on Flight Data Recorder data to help Indian Navy enhance the serviceability of the aircraft by predicting failure before they occur.

» Shri Rajnath Singh also launched AR&DB web portal, www.samar.gov.in (System for Advance Manufacturing Assessment & Rating). SAMAR is the benchmark to measure the competency of defence manufacturing enterprises.

• • SAMAR is an outcome of the collaboration between DRDO and Quality Council of India (QCI) to strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

» The DRDO has equipped industries with the latest defence technologies by signing the Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (ToT) of several critical systems. It handed over 18 ToT agreements to 18 Indian Industries for transfer of 12 technologies developed by 10 DRDO laboratories.

» A DRDO Monograph titled Non-Destructive Evaluation of Solid Rockets and Missile System and AR&DB’s magazine was also released.

Seminar on ‘Aatmanirbharta in Aero Armament Sustenance’:

In line with the Government’s policy to reduce foreign dependence and achieve self-reliance in defence, the Indian Navy, in collaboration with Department of Defence Production, conducted a seminar on the topic ‘Aatmanirbharta in Aero Armament Sustenance’ during Aero India 2023 on 15 February.

The aim of the seminar was to highlight the opportunities and challenges involved in realising missile sustenance of the tri-services through Indian industry and to achieve the following three-fold objectives:

• • To highlight the scope of work in terms of various missiles held in the Indian Navy inventory proposed to be life extended and sustained in the coming years.
  • To emphasise the various advantages accrued by the private sector, in terms of understanding the nuances of sustaining missiles/armaments.
  • To discuss the technical expertise and resources available with various stake-holders within the country and take feedback from user, R&D labs, vendors and QA agencies on the opportunities and challenges towards realising missile sustenance for the tri-services through private industry.

» The seminar provided a platform to key stakeholders from the MoD, User, maintainer, QA agencies, DRDO, DPSUs and the Indian industry to engage in detailed panel discussions on the Govt’s initiative and way-ahead for Industry partners to participate in taking on sustenance of missiles held with the Armed Forces.