Indian defence industry exports watch

[Zebra]

...................At the moment the IAF needs 90 more aircraft to take care of the falling squadron strength and the decision on this will be made by the end of the fiscal year.
The best option for those would be the F-35 but that seems to be off the table because defence minister doesn't like "expensive" aircraft,although countries with defence budgets lower than us and economies smaller than us (by PPP) can afford to buy and operate them.
Next best thing would be the F-18 ASH,which might be a possibility

So at the end of the day still IAF have to wait till end of the fiscal year..........!

But why so late, why not in very near future.......!

 

[Scarface]

So at the end of the day still IAF have to wait till end of the fiscal year..........!

But why so late, why not in very near future.......!

Beats me.
I hope it happens as soon as possible.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group forms JV with Dassault for Rafale jets offsets
Reliance Group’s joint venture comes in the light of India’s offsets policy as Dassault will have to procure indigenous products equivalent to 50% of the deal to help domestic defence manufacturing

Under India’s offsets policy, Dassault will have to procure Indian-manufactured products equivalent to 50% of the deal to help domestic defence manufacturing. Photo: AFP

New Delhi: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Group has formed a joint venture with French-aircraft maker Dassault Aviation SA to benefit from the local manufacturing requirements under the recently signed Rs.59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal.

The Dassault Reliance Aerospace joint venture will be a key player in the "execution of offset obligations" as a part of the 36 Rafale fighter jets signed between France and India on 23 September 2016, Reliance Group said in a statement on Monday.

Under India’s so-called offsets policy, Dassault will have to procure Indian-manufactured products equivalent to 50% of the deal to help domestic defence manufacturing.

That is what the new joint venture plans to undertake.

Also Read: India may get Rafale jets sooner than 36 months

“The formation of this joint venture with Reliance Aerospace led by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group illustrates our strong commitment to establish ourselves in India and to develop strategic industrial partnerships under the “Make in India” policy promoted by the Indian government,” said Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation chairman & chief executive officer.

“We are delighted to partner a world leader in aviation like Dassault Aviation, and a visionary leader like Eric Trappier. This is a transformational moment for the Indian Aerospace sector and for Reliance Infrastructure’s subsidiary Reliance Aerospace”, said Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group.

Rafale has been used by the French armed forces in combat operations for more than a decade. It entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the French Air Force in 2006. Some of the 152 planes delivered so far have been used in combat in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.

These combat aircraft, delivery of which are expected to start in 36 months and be completed in 66 months from the time of signing of the contract, comes equipped with state-of-the-art missiles like ‘Meteor’ and ‘Scalp’. With the air-to-air Meteor missiles, Indian Air Force will be able to hit targets as far as 150km away, compared with 80km it has so far been capable of targeting. Scalp, an air-to-ground cruise missile with a range in excess of 300km, will also gives the IAF an edge over its adversaries.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar indicated last week that the jets, which were earlier expected after 36 months may start flying before that deadline.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India eyes FDI in engineering, Defence from Czeh Companies

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Siachen, Thar simulated in Bengaluru lab to test weapons

TECH ADVANTAGE: The company’s workspace where simulation chambers are being built.
HIGHLIGHTS

• The firm provides chambers for testing of equipment of projects like Agni
• The idea of simulation testing of military equipment came after Kargil war in 1999
• Military equipment can't always be tested on the field

BENGALURU : From the cold environs of Siachen to the extreme heat of the Thar desert, no climate condition is too extreme for this company in Dabaspet, about 72km north-west of Bengaluru, which has been aiding simulation testing of military equipment.

Military equipment is put to service in all kinds of environments, but can't always be tested on the field given the time and logistical constraints. This results in failures of sub-systems, as India learned during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

While countries like the US have spent millions of dollars over several years to test such equipment in simulated conditions and make the final product more adaptive to such places, India has been import-dependent.

In its quiet workspace, CM Environs (CME), which simulates all types of climate for military-grade testing, is slowly changing that with 48 of the 58 Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) labs being its clients. The firm provides chambers for testing of equipment in several big-ticket projects like Agni, India's ballistic missiles programme. And, it all began with Kargil.

"We were not into this business in 1999. While India emerged victorious in the conflict with Pakistan, the fact that our communication and other equipment failed gave me an idea and we entered the simulation business so that India has the technology to test its equipment, even those we imported," CME chairman J Crasta said.

With an average annual turnover of $5 million-this year's order books reflect $6.5m-the firm has in the last decade and a half slowly captured a majority of the Indian domestic market valued at $10 million, which includes military and civilian markets. The global industry is valued at $1 billion market, the Chinese market is $200 million.

Last week, CME's dust and storm chamber was commissioned at defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which develops communication systems, electronic systems for missiles and battle tanks among other things. "This is the first time that BEL is buying a simulation chamber from a domestic manufacturer. It generally impo rted from Weiss Technik, a globally renowned brand and leader in India before us," CME chief executive officer Prajwal Crasta said. Stating that not only does the firm meet military standards of the US, he said: "We are also nearly 50% cheaper."

The chamber at BEL was built and delivered at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. A BEL spokesperson said: "Our Bengaluru complex has established a blowing sand and dust test facility. While take-off and landing, aircraft sub-systems are exposed to sand and dust particles and this facility provides a simulated environment to test if the airborne sub-systems are capable of functioning dependably despite the exposure to these sand and dust particles."

Prajwal said the chamber is capable of simulating sand and dust particles in sizes less than 500 and 20 microns, respectively. While the particle simulation is one thing, the other is the wind speed. All these particles are carried by the wind at different speeds causing different types of damage.

"We can simulate a wind speed of up to 29 metre/second, at which speed the product experiences accelerated stress. Also we can simulate -70°C to 180°C in a controlled manner and also simulate relative humidity," Prajwal said.

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/beng...-lab-to-test-weapons/articleshow/54667391.cms

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Private sector company making waves in defence procurement

The increasing role of the Indian PrivateSector in Defence Procurement is amply demonstrated by a mid-sizedcompany here doing niche communication, electro-optic and aeroframes to the Armed forces and also exporting it to Israel and other countries.

Started by a three former employees of Bharat Electronics 12years ago, Alpha Design Technologies has emerged a force to reckonwith in defence supplies offering more than 50 products most of themimport substitute and coming under offset policy in defence procurement.

With a turnover of Rs 402 crore in last fiscal and expecting abusiness of Rs 450 crore this year, the company over the next threeyears plan to emerge as a major player in the defence sector with ananticipated turnover of Rs 2500 crore. The Company is setting up twomanufacturing units in the city besides an existing one in Hyderabadto meet the growing demand. It has orders worth Rs 2500 crore onhand an another Rs 1000 crore worth orders would be firmed upshortly, Col H S Shankar (retd) Chairman and Managing Director ofthe Company told newsmen here today.

Executing a Rs 180 crore annual turnover project for the AirForce, the Company is setting up three simulator centres one for Mig29 Upgrade and two for helicopters. They were coming up at Adhampurin Punjab for the Mig 29 Upgrade, Sasaron near New Delhi andBagdhora for Mi 17 Helicopters. They would be operational from nextyear, Col Shankar said, adding that the company would be maintainingthem over the next 20 years.

The Company had recently started executing a multi million dollarcontrat for Elbit systems for the supply of 600 VHF communicationdevices. It would be shortly sold to the Armoured forces of the Company.

The company specialises in Opto electronic equipments, electronicwarfare systems, simulators and communication network.

He said the company was also in the process of offering thermalimaging fire control systems and also offered sensors to be equippedin helicopters against shoulder carried missile launchers. It hadsuccesfully tested these sensors in Chetah helicopters and for thefirst time the Helicopters of Indian Air Force would be protectedfrom such artillery attacks.

Col Shankar, who was part of the industrialists who visited someof the forward areas recently, said a detailed analysis was beingmade to further improve the equipment avilability and enhance thetechnological capabilities to cater for operational requirements.

The company is looking forward for an investment of Rs 100 croreover the next one year to enhance its capacity and infrastrure. Theinvestment would come from multiple sources, including an initialpublic offer.

UNI CNR MSP CS 1538
-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0284-966740.Xml

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Indian firm delivers 1st panel assembly for US fighter

BENGALURU: Sasmos HET Technologies Limited delievered the first F/A-18 Super Hornet electrical panel assembly within six months from receipt of order to Boeing from its Bengaluru plant on Thursday.

The firm is under contract with Boeing to produce mission-critical equipment and cockpit panel assemblies for its F-15 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft, which a release issued here said is an "example of Boeing's ongoing support of the 'Make in India' initiative."

"This delivery demonstrates again that Indian suppliers, both big and small are becoming an integral part of Boeing's global supply chain," Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar said, adding that Boeing will continue to rapidly increase its efforts to enhance complex aerospace manufacturing in India.

Sasmos Managing Director HG Chandrasekhar said the firm has not only met the Boeing standards, but has also increased its production rate in a "relatively short timeframe."

Boeing, the release said is expanding its collaborations with Indian firms with the aim of building a world-class aerospace ecosystem in India.

"Boeing is expanding its collaboration with Indian industrial partners across manufacturing, engineering and IT sectors. The company continues to increase its footprint as direct and indirect suppliers and sourcing activities continue to grow rapidly," the release said.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Reliance Group sews up accord with USA's Allrig

MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence and Engineering on Friday announced an agreement with Allrig, a US-based service support provider for onshore and offshore installations, to tap a market estimated at Rs 7,000 crore in 10 years.

The association would bring in strategic advantages of high quality services at competitive costs and lower turnaround time to upstream companies operating in the Indian subcontinent with respect to jack-up rigs, drilling rigs and other floating and fixed oil and gas assets, the company said.

Under the partnership, the Reliance Defence shipyard at Pipavav in Gujarat will be developed as a one-stop-solution venue for all the service needs of upstream firms like dry docking, inspection, repair, overhaul, upgradation, rectification, maintenance and spare services.

"The association with Allrig responds to a real time need of the industry of enhanced service provision in the upstream segment," said Vice Admiral H.S. Malhi (Retd), Chief Executive of Reliance Defence and Engineering.

"The association will take part in various opportunities in Indian subcontinent and South-East region. The estimated India market size is about Rs 7,000 crore," the company statement said.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Substituting imports with domestic goods real test for India
By: PTI | New Delhi | Published: October 7, 2016 5:17 PM

Baba Kalyani expressed hope that in 6 to 12 months, ‘Make in India’ in defence will be a reality. (Website)

The real challenge before the country is to substitute imported goods with domestic products like in the defence sector, Bharat Forge CMD Baba Kalyani today said.

“Like in defence, huge amount of imports is taking place and that’s only going to keep growing exponentially unless we do something,” he said here at the India Economic Summit, jointly organised by CII and WEF.

He said relaxing FDI norms in the defence sector is a welcome step but at the end of the day, India has to create an ecosystem to manufacture products locally.

Kalyani expressed hope that in 6 to 12 months, ‘Make in India’ in defence will be a reality.

The government has relaxed FDI norms in the defence sector to promote manufacturing.

“We need to make sure that whatever India consumes, we start producing, be it in defence or other sector,” he said adding that in the medium term, Indian industry needs to scale up dramatically.

He pointed out that in engineering products, India is highly competitive.

On exports, he said the problem is the volatility in global markets.

“Personally, I do not think you need incentives for exports. I think we are a competitive economy as far as exports are concerned,” he added.

M&M Executive Director Pawan Goenka seconded Kalyani’s views, however saying that the government needs to ensure that bilateral agreements do not hurt the domestic industry.

He also emphasised on the need to build Indian brands with the cooperation of both government and industry.

ABB India CEO and Managing Director Sanjeev Sharma said India should start using more high end technologies to give a boost to manufacturing.

Speaking at the session, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said states would have to work on land and labour related issues to push manufacturing.

He said a free trade agreement with the EU would help both the auto and textile sectors to get greater market access there.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Narendra Modi government asks arms suppliers to be prepared

Weapon suppliers, including some with the biggest businesses in India, have been contacted to convey that, if need be, contracts for additional arms could be placed on an immediate basis.

NEW DELHI: With tensions between India and Pakistan escalating, the government has asked arms suppliers and the industry to be prepared to scale up production and supply contracts at short notice.

Government officials and top company executives that ET spoke with said that feelers had come from the government over the past few days to assess the capability and capacity to meet immediate requirements of the armed forces.

Weapon suppliers, including some with the biggest businesses in India, have been contacted to convey that, if need be, contracts for additional arms could be placed on an immediate basis.

“The government wants a realistic estimate of the industry’s ability to deliver on a short notice; to upscale current production and to meet urgent orders,” a top defence executive told ET.

Sources said the government had made similar inquires after the Pathankot air base attack in January. In particular, the defence ministry is looking at small arms and ammunition and spare parts and weapons for the Sukhoi and Mirage fighter fleets on a priority basis.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had also indicated a day before the September 29 surgical strikes that an increase in the defence budget could be possible to meet security needs.

“In India, in addition to all the global events which leave an impact on us, we also have the security challenge. The security challenge involves an element of uncertainty. It also involves a lot of national resources being diverted in that direction and it will always get top priority,” Jaitley had said at a banking conference.

The armed forces will be keen to meet critical shortages, particularly in ammunition and small arms, that limit its capability to meet a full-scale war challenge beyond a few days.

Successive years of dipping into war reserves to raise new military units on the China border have led to depleted stocks that in some cases may not even last four days in case of a fullblown conflict along the border.

 

[Prashant12]

Defence startup Tonbo Imaging inks $100 million export deal with Peruvian army
Tonbo Imaging has bagged a $100 million contract to manufacture and export ‘night-vision sights’ for guns to be sold to the Peruvian army

Tonbo Imaging, a startup based in Bengaluru, has bagged a $100 million contract to manufacture and export ‘night-vision sights’ for guns to be sold by a US company to the Peruvian army.

The device will be fitted on rifles supplied to Peru by US manufacturer Unified Weapon Systems Inc. (UWS). Tonbo and UWS will offer a similar deal to the Indian army.

“Close to 10,000 weapons will be equipped with Tonbo’s thermal imaging sight with a total order of over $100 million over the next 10 years,” Arvind Lakshmikumar, CEO of Tonbo Imaging, said about the Peru contract.

Apart from production of weaponry, the deal with Fábrica de Armas y Municiones del Ejército (FAME), Peru’s state-owned military industry, will encompass transfer of technology of the assault rifles and weapon sights.

This means local technicians in Peru will learn how to make modern rifles and weapon sights. “The transfer of technology will create self-reliance for the domestic industry in the long run,” said Lakshmikumar.

The Peruvian government signed a $1.5 billion deal with UWS to assemble and jointly manufacture 300,000 rifles to modernise the weaponry of the armed forces and its national police.

The tender to supply day optics for the guns was won by US-based Browe, Inc., while the contract for night-vision sights was bagged by Tonbo. UWS conducted field trials on Tonbo’s weapon sight ‘Arjun’ over eight months.

Named after marksman warrior Arjuna from the Mahabharata, the ‘Arjun’ sights fended off competition from multinational defence companies such as BAE Systems plc, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc., and FLIR Systems, Inc.

This is a unique distinction given that “India is not known for its cutting-edge defence industry,” said Mike Bingham, CEO of UWS, adding that the Indian defence market is largely dominated by imports from Russia and Israel.

When asked why UWS chose Tonbo, Bingham said, “While most night vision systems run proprietary operating systems, Tonbo’s systems are built on Android. This makes their systems very secure and scalable.”

Lakshmikumar said the Tonbo-UWS partnership will offer the same package deal to the Indian government.

The Ministry of Defence has launched a hunt for a new-generation assault rifle, as reported by ET on September 27, 2016. According to the RFI (Request for Information), the army is looking to procure 185,000 assault rifles with about 65,000 to be delivered over the next four to 28 months.

“This package is now being offered to the Indian army as a part of the Indian army RFI for assault weapons. We will be doing field trials with various army groups to demonstrate the capabilities of the weapon,” Lakshmikumar said.

Asked how Tonbo would meet the requirements of both the Indian and Peruvian governments, Lakshmikumar said, “We have set up relationships with contract manufacturers who have the potential to scale up. With our current ecosystem, we can build up to 4,000 sights in a month. We currently don’t make anywhere near that number. But if the orders come in, our process is set up for scale and capacity.”

By owning the intellectual property rights for the design and manufacture of its products, Tonbo exerts control over the supply chain.

As a next step, Tonbo plans to push its products across other military segments such as land systems, UAVs, weapon systems and missiles and create global adoption of Indian-made products.

http://tech.economictimes.indiatime...llion-export-deal-with-peruvian-army/54795667

 

[ezsasa]

Defence startup Tonbo Imaging inks $100 million export deal with Peruvian army
Tonbo Imaging has bagged a $100 million contract to manufacture and export ‘night-vision sights’ for guns to be sold to the Peruvian army

Tonbo Imaging, a startup based in Bengaluru, has bagged a $100 million contract to manufacture and export ‘night-vision sights’ for guns to be sold by a US company to the Peruvian army.

The device will be fitted on rifles supplied to Peru by US manufacturer Unified Weapon Systems Inc. (UWS). Tonbo and UWS will offer a similar deal to the Indian army.

“Close to 10,000 weapons will be equipped with Tonbo’s thermal imaging sight with a total order of over $100 million over the next 10 years,” Arvind Lakshmikumar, CEO of Tonbo Imaging, said about the Peru contract.

Apart from production of weaponry, the deal with Fábrica de Armas y Municiones del Ejército (FAME), Peru’s state-owned military industry, will encompass transfer of technology of the assault rifles and weapon sights.

This means local technicians in Peru will learn how to make modern rifles and weapon sights. “The transfer of technology will create self-reliance for the domestic industry in the long run,” said Lakshmikumar.

The Peruvian government signed a $1.5 billion deal with UWS to assemble and jointly manufacture 300,000 rifles to modernise the weaponry of the armed forces and its national police.

The tender to supply day optics for the guns was won by US-based Browe, Inc., while the contract for night-vision sights was bagged by Tonbo. UWS conducted field trials on Tonbo’s weapon sight ‘Arjun’ over eight months.

Named after marksman warrior Arjuna from the Mahabharata, the ‘Arjun’ sights fended off competition from multinational defence companies such as BAE Systems plc, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc., and FLIR Systems, Inc.

This is a unique distinction given that “India is not known for its cutting-edge defence industry,” said Mike Bingham, CEO of UWS, adding that the Indian defence market is largely dominated by imports from Russia and Israel.

When asked why UWS chose Tonbo, Bingham said, “While most night vision systems run proprietary operating systems, Tonbo’s systems are built on Android. This makes their systems very secure and scalable.”

Lakshmikumar said the Tonbo-UWS partnership will offer the same package deal to the Indian government.

The Ministry of Defence has launched a hunt for a new-generation assault rifle, as reported by ET on September 27, 2016. According to the RFI (Request for Information), the army is looking to procure 185,000 assault rifles with about 65,000 to be delivered over the next four to 28 months.

“This package is now being offered to the Indian army as a part of the Indian army RFI for assault weapons. We will be doing field trials with various army groups to demonstrate the capabilities of the weapon,” Lakshmikumar said.

Asked how Tonbo would meet the requirements of both the Indian and Peruvian governments, Lakshmikumar said, “We have set up relationships with contract manufacturers who have the potential to scale up. With our current ecosystem, we can build up to 4,000 sights in a month. We currently don’t make anywhere near that number. But if the orders come in, our process is set up for scale and capacity.”

By owning the intellectual property rights for the design and manufacture of its products, Tonbo exerts control over the supply chain.

As a next step, Tonbo plans to push its products across other military segments such as land systems, UAVs, weapon systems and missiles and create global adoption of Indian-made products.

http://tech.economictimes.indiatime...llion-export-deal-with-peruvian-army/54795667

Heights is that Indian army is releasing chindi tenders for 200 NVD at a time for AK and INSAS, and peru is inking big deals with Tonbo. that sucks!!!!

 

[sorcerer]

More defence contracts worth Rs 50,000 crore to be signed before financial year-end :: Manohar Parrikar
MUMBAI: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said he expects another Rs 50,000-60,000 crore worth of defence contracts to be signed during the remaining quarters of the financial year, taking the total orders to Rs three trillion since he took charge two years ago.



"During the past 23 months that I have been in charge, we have signed contracts worth Rs 2.2 trillion. Recently, we signed a letter of intent with a government-run shipyard for about Rs 32,000 crore, taking the total orders to Rs 2.5 trillion."

"Over the next six months, I hope to sign another Rs 50,000-60,000 crore worth of contracts, taking the total 3 trillion," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of an industry exhibition on technology and material sciences in Navi Mumbai near here.

"The Make in India initiative has seen defence exports from Rs 500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore, though the ministry figures will show only Rs 2,100 crore. One reason for this is that export of aviation sector items are not included in this as it has been delicensed."

Parrikar explained that the Defence Ministry tabulates only those goods that are in the licensed segments. As many 65 per cent of defence sub-segments are de-licensed now and are, therefore, not in the information list of the defence ministry.


When asked about the inflows through the FDI route after foreign director investment cap was hiked to 49 per cent, he said so far it has been about USD 100 million but will go up as foreign capital flows in at stages.



Parrikar also said the ministry is finalising a new strategic materials policy so that we can promote production as well as storage of defence-related strategic materials.

"We have set up a study team to draft a new strategic materials policy to promote the sector, which involves production and storage of these materials," he said.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Alpha Design setting up three simulators for IAF

Bengaluru, Oct 12 (IANS) As part of greater indigenisation in the defence sector and the ‘Make in India’ initiative, leading electronic devices manufacturer Alpha Design Technologies Ltd is setting up three hi-tech simulators for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to train its pilots to fly fighters and helicopters.

“In a competitive bid, we bagged the IAF order to build, operate and manage the simulators on its air bases at Adhampur near Jallandhar in Punjab, Sarsawa near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Bagdogra near Darjeeling in West Bengal,” Alpha Chairman and Managing Director Colonel H.S. Shankar (retd) told IANS here.

The 13-year-old city-based private firm will operate the simulators for 20 years from mid-2017 and train IAF pilots to fly the Russian-made MiG-29 and MI-17 helicopters, which are stationed at the respective air bases.

“Alpha is the second firm to get such a turnkey project order after Mahindras, which is setting up a simulator for the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft at the Hindon air base near Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh,” said Shankar.

Though the simulators will be 80-90 per cent indigenous with technology transfer from Russia, Alpha will import some of the hardware for mapping, geographical information systems (GIS) and navigation.

“The IAF pilots don’t have to go Russia or other countries for training on simulators to fly various types of aircraft, including fighters and choppers,” said Shankar.

Lauding the opening up defence production to the private sector and allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 49 per cent in joint ventures for ‘Make in India’ and offsets, Shankar said the new DPP (defence procurement procedure) was a huge opportunity to increase the local content in military equipment, including arms, ammunition, aircraft subsystems, weapons, and electronic and warfare systems.

“The new defence policy and programmes enable the Indian private sector to not only meet the needs of our armed forces through import substitution, but also export a range of defence equipment to global markets,” asserted Shankar, a former Director of the state-run Bharat Electronics’ research and development arm.

Alpha recently won a $6-million (Rs 40 crore) deal to export 600 VHF (very high frequency) communication devices to Israel-based Elbit Systems.

“We were selected to provide high-end VHF devices for a global Israeli firm (Elbit) on the basis of international specifications,” said Shankar.

Alpha plans to use the same devices for meeting the critical communication needs of the Indian Army.

“The VHF devices are very effective for all battle tanks, including T-90s and T-72s. We have made the offer to the army to supply them for filling up communication gaps. The evaluation of the devices is underway,” asserted Shankar.

“We have also been pre-qualified by the Indian Army to bid for the next-generation software defined radios (SWRs), for which we have developed both software and hardware. The sets are for handheld, manpack and vehicular applications,” claimed Shankar.

Though the company’s SWR sets are being tested in field trials for evaluation, Shankar said the army would need at least 5,000 of them for their use as they are the newer version of the low frequency and short-range radios the army has been using over the years.

The company also developed sensors for missile launch detection system in collaboration with BEL to protect them from stingers.

The Rs 401-crore private firm plans to raise Rs 500 crore in a year through an IPO (initial public offering) to fund its ongoing and future expansion programmes.

“Though many private equity players and institutions offered to invest in our firm, we want to tap the capital markets to raise funds for our expansion plans,” said Shankar.

The company plans to invest a part of the funds to set up two production plants in Bengaluru to execute future orders from the defence services and for exports. It has an healthy order book of Rs 9,113 crore ($1.4 billion), for supplying defence electronics equipment to the armed forces and overseas firms.

“The Karnataka government has allotted 5.8 acres of land in the aerospace SEZ (special export zone) near the international airport at Devanahalli on the city’s outskirts for setting up a dedicated export unit,” pointed out Shankar.

The company also has a five-acre prime plot at Whitefield in the city’s southeast suburb where it plans to set up a facility to make opto-electronics devices for the defence services and exports.

In the two manufacturing plants it has in the city, the company rolls out radio communication devices and thermal imagers for fire control systems.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Ashok Leyland aims to grow defence sector business four-fold

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Slow and Steady: Indian Arms Exports Jump Six Folds
Aggressive diplomatic engagement along with export financing through line of credit has boosted India’s presence in the arms trade with countries located in East Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India's ability to deliver defense equipment in a timely manner has attracted many small countries in last two years. According to the Indian government, defense exports have jumped six folds in in last two years only.

"The Make in India initiative has seen defense exports increase from $76 million to $450 million, though the ministry figures will show only $316 million. One reason for this is that exports of the aviation sector are not included in this as it has been delicensed."

Of late, India has focused to supply naval equipment like patrol vessels to East Asia and island nations of the Indian Pacific region. Some of the major defense equipment exported by India are patrol vessels, helicopters & their spares, sonars & radars, avionics, radar warning receivers (RWR), small arms, small caliber ammunition, grenades, and telecommunication equipment.

Parrikar has stated that exports may be much more than government's data as 65 per cent of defense sub-segments are de-licensed by the government now and are, therefore, not in the information list of the defense ministry.

"If we include the gains from the offset clause, our defense-related exports should be about $1 billion, out of which defense items alone are worth Rs 3,000 crore, which I hope to increase it to Rs 10,000 crore soon," Parrikar added.

To garner a larger share of defense exports in small countries, the Indian government has allowed public sector defense firms to export 10 percent of their total production.

So, Defence Exports are now $450 millions.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India To Constitute Integrated Control Centers In Defense Ministry To Meet Urgencies

Indian Army Soldier. Photo Credit: Facebook

Indian has considered constituting integrated control centers (ICC) in the home ministry as well as defense ministry to get real time information of any urgent need and respond quickly to it.

The integrated control centre (ICC) will be having nodes from the key agencies and departments like Central Water Commission, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Geological Survey of India (GSI) Army, Navy, Air Force and national disaster response force (NDRF), DNA India reported today.

Further its stakeholders will also include ministries from Prime Minister Office, agriculture, civil aviation, railways, civil supplies, defense and home that will be put on prompt SMS groups for quick action in time any exigency.

The ICC shall have at least 10-12 domain experts from every related field on 24X7 basis, and will be headed by a senior official, preferably of the level of joint secretary.

The idea is to have a seamless sharing of information in real time of any disaster natural or manmade, terror attack, big accident or riot from local level to the Centre and responding to it as soon as possible, said a senior official.

"To do this we have to do away with the current control room and disaster management centre and replace them with studio that has equipment and domain experts," he added.

The ICC has been approved in principle by the home ministry and would be implemented soon by includingthe control centers at national disaster management authority (NDMA) and in house disaster management.

"The two full-fledged integrated control centres in home as well as defence ministries will be used for reaching at a unified decision at central government level including giving command to NDRF, Army and sending requests to friendly nations for international requirements.

Care will be taken to make it completely professional. Moreover, standard operating procedures are being drafted so that it has work culture where not a single mishap goes unnoticed and is attended promptly, the official added.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

MSMEs eye defence windfall, but here’s what they must do first

The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), announced recently, finally delivers Indian MSMEs, a growth opportunity they have long been waiting for. The advantages that MSMEs will leverage are their innovative capabilities in niche manufacturing, greater flexibility, lower overhead costs and their ability to learn and absorb new technologies quickly.

MSME sector already contributes a significant 38% to the nation’s GDP and 40% and 45% to the overall exports and manufacturing output, respectively. It is engaged in the manufacturing of over 6,000 products ranging from traditional to hi-tech items. However, till now the MSMEs contribution in defence sector was limited to just 9%.

According to figures shared by the defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, last year procurement from MSMEs reached 9%, and in the current year, it will reach 15%. Volumes are also set to increase from R40,000 crore in 2014, to R52,000 crore in the current year.

There are nearly 6,000 MSMEs across the country supplying components and sub-assemblies to the DPSUs, ordnance factories, DRDO and private industries.

As per latest industry reports, India’s defence budget accounted for nearly 17.2% of the total central government expenditure, at R19.78 lakh crore (about $294.36 billion). In terms of defence spends as a percentage of the GDP, India stands fifth globally. Nearly 60% of the defence need is met through imports putting a huge dent on India’s fiscal health. Therefore, boosting ‘Make in India’ initiative via MSMEs and integrating this sector with global supply chain can be a panacea for managing current account deficit, when oil prices rise again.

As a sequel to 100% FDI in defence production sector, several foreign majors have already made their entry into India. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Saab, Bell Helicopter, Rolls Royce, Northrop Gruman, Rolta, BAE Systems, Dassault, Honeywell, Thales and Finmeccanica are some of the big foreign players actively looking at Indian market. These companies will have to depend on MSMEs to meet their offset obligation for a host of purposes: equipment, spares, IT-related services and other techno-commercial services.

The government has initiated host of measures for simplification of procedures to policy change for boosting manufacturing in defence sector based on priority of MSMEs Sector, these include:

• Allowing 100% FDI in defence sector and announcement of DPP. The new DPP encourages the MSMEs associated with the industry with funding up to 90% of their project’s prototype development cost. Adding another safeguard, the MoD has also stated that it will reimburse the remaining 10% prototype development cost, if the request for proposal (RFP) is not called within a stipulated timeframe after the successful test of prototypes.

• Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines for DPSUs and OFBs have been formulated and circulated to them. The guidelines also include vendor development for import substitution.

• The Exchange Rate Variation (ERV) protection has been allowed on foreign exchange component to all Indian companies including private companies in all categories of capital acquisitions.

• The anomalies in excise duty/custom duty have been removed. Now, Indian industries (public and private) are subjected to the same kind of excise and custom duty levies.

• The defence products list for the purpose of issuing Industrial Licences (ILs) under IDR Act has been revised and most of the components, parts, sub-systems, testing equipment, and production equipment have been removed from the list.

• The initial validity of the IL granted under the IDR Act has been increased from 7 years to 15 years with a provision to further extend it by 3 years.

• The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the issue of no-objection certificate (NOC) for export of military stores has been revised wherein; end-user certificate (EUC) to be countersigned/stamped by the government authorities has been done away with for the export of parts, components, sub-systems, etc.

With these policy shifts taking place, MSMEs can complement large defence hardware manufacturing industries as ancillary units in time to come.

In the case of indigenous manufacture of defence hardware, a substantial portion of the work can be transferred to the MSMEs by the DPSUs and OEMs. They can now act as strategic partners with DPSUs, foreign defence manufacturers and the larger corporates.

The first steps have to come from MSME-based industries followed by a government push. MSMEs need to understand OEM expectations in terms of quality and supply commitments which require them to invest in technology, research and manpower training in anticipation of a contract.

The government and private players have acknowledged the fact that India needs to increase self-reliance in defence production. Today, it is imperative for Indian companies, especially MSMEs, to integrate themselves to global supply chains of national and international defence majors, to reduce dependence on foreign supplies.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

'For futuristic technology DRDO needs to partner with industry'

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Scientific Advisor to Minister of Defence G. Satheesh Reddy on Tuesday said the defence industry should use imagination and innovation to build products for tomorrow while DRDO should focus on research and let industry do the rest.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of 'DEFTECH 2016 - Realising Make in India through Defence R&D', organised by CII and supported by the DRDO, Reddy said, "Make in India should not stop at Build to Print. Instead, it should also involve indigenous design, development and manufacturing."

Reddy said industry should engage with the incubation centres of various universities which would complement the research initiatives of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), and added that interactions between the DRDO and the industry are at an all-time high.

He said that the government has already included safeguards through policy to ensure that indigenous products get priority even if they are priced a little higher than imports.

Reddy said that in any product development, research and development constitute 15-20 per cent of the work while the rest is engineering. The DRDO should focus on research and let the industry do the rest of the work.

In some of the earlier products the DRDO would do everything. If this continues today, it will be very difficult for the DRDO and the industry to exist, he added.

While delivering the special address, Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning & Systems), stated that typically Indian requirements need local solutions and Indian Army would go out of its way to provide an opportunity to replace imports with indigenous products.

Pointing out the anomaly of procurement in finding competitive bids for unique products, Lt. Gen. Saha said, that there are some companies who are coming up with unique technologies and we have to find ways to procure these products without going through competitive bids.

The Defence Procurement Procedure is a final looking document but there is still scope for improvement, he added.

In his key note address, Baba Kalyani, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee on Defence, said that the in last two years decision making has become faster and the government is addressing many industry issues.

--IANS

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Rafale aerostructures to be made in Mihan-SEZ

(Representative image)

NAGPUR: Reliance Aerostructure is expected to start manufacturing aerostuctures for Rafale in a couple of months. The company had taken up land in the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub ablnd Airport at Nagpur's (Mihan) special economic zone (SEZ) last year. This is part of the offset orders of the Rafale aircraft deal with France's Dassault.

Under an offset arrangement, any supplier bagging a major government order has to invest a part of the deal in India to make components or for maintenance.

Reliance Aerostructures, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), had taken up over 100 acres in the SEZ last year to set up an aerospace park. The joint venture, Dassault Reliance Aersopace, has been formed to implement orders worth 30,000 crore.

Initially, the company may begin with making aerostructures which is the body of the aircraft. Earlier batches of aerostructures will be flown to the Dassault manufacturing facility in France for further processing. This is because the aircraft will be first sent in a ready-to-fly condition to India, said a source involved in the process.

With the deal signed, Reliance is examining various proposals every day.